Deku, Sound Demon, and Azulong
by skinnydude911
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has always dreamed about being a Hero. But due to not being born with a Quirk, life can be harsh. Luckily he has his friend Kenji helping him along as well as their new friend Ryu. Together, these three teens will grow and become the greatest Heroes ever. IzukuxOchako, OCxTooru, and OCxMina.
1. Chapter 1

**After reading and watching some of this very fun and very amazing series:** My Hero Academia **, I thought I'd give it a shot and try something with this. I don't own anything besides my OC:** Ryu Soshi **.** NeoNazo356 **has given me an oc of his for this story and his name is** Kenji Matsuda **.**

[words] Quirks

 _'thoughts'_

* * *

"Stop! Thief!"

At a local farmer's market near the Shizuoka Prefecture, a stand owner shouted at a homeless looking teen as he ran throughout the market place. The homeless teen, dressed in torn jeans, a faded gray hoodie with a missing right sleeve and no shoes, ran right by some people as he took an apple, some bread, and a purse by mistake to which he quickly threw it back to the person as he ran from the stand owner. As the stand owner got frustrated by the homeless kid for taking his jar of honey, he unleashed a vine out of his wrist as it followed the kid like a heat seeking missile.

The teen looked back and saw the vine as he jumped over a stand table as the vine followed and grabbed hold of something. As the stand owner felt his vine grab hold of something, he gave it a powerful tug and saw that he grabbed hold of… a mother holding onto her baby girl. "Oh god, sorry I didn't me-" The stand owner said before he received a series of smacks from the lady's purse repeatedly for causing her baby girl to cry so much. As the man was being pummeled by the mother, the homeless kid poked his head out from under the table and made a break for it before any hero showed up and tried to attack him.

After getting a block or so away from the farmer's market, the teen ran into an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster to enjoy his catch of the day, or as he would call it… breakfast. The teen pulled his hood down to reveal his light blue scale-patterned skin which was caked with dirt and grime, red and green heterochromatic eyes, a golden horn sticking out of his forehead, and sharp-looking teeth.

 _'Well let's see, not much today… but I can't get picky. Looks like it's apple and bread today. Wish I got some water or something but guess my luck was just bad today,'_ the homeless teen thought as he pocketed the honey and took a bite of the apple.

As the teen was about to take a bite of some of the bread, he heard a small cry coming right next to him. He turned to see an orange dog with black stripes on its back and legs with tufts of light orange fur on top of its head and on its chest, with a black cat with some red fur on its face and red stripes legs looked at him with sad and hungry eyes. The teen looked at his food and gave half of the white bread to the dog and some of his apple to the cat, making sure he got rid of the seeds. Both animals were happy for this and gave a happy bark and meow as they grabbed the food and scampered away.

' _Nice animals... But now I have very little food left,'_ the homeless teen thought as he looked at the half bread and apple he already took a bite of. _'Oh well, I could probably find something else later on today. But man I'm so thirsty. Better go to the train station, they always seem to have such nice cool water at their fountains.'_ With that, the teen pulled his hood back over his head and carefully made his way to the train station, keeping his head low so nobody would see his face.

He didn't have the best experience as a child with people, so he completely avoided them out of the fear of what they'd do to a "freak" like him. As he made his way to the station, he failed to realize there was a growing crowd behind him, or that a transmission tower had been knocked over, falling straight towards him until-

"Hey kid RUN!" a bystander shouted, the homeless teen looking up and bracing for impact until a muscular hero jumped next to him and caught the transmission tower before it could flatten either of them.

"Kid, it's not safe, get out of here quickly!" the Hero shouted, the homeless teen panicking before he made a break for it into an alleyway.

* * *

At the same time, two middle school teens both clad in black school uniforms saw the going-on heroics in action. One had mid-length curly black hair with green highlights, large green eyes, and light skin with freckles on his cheeks; he wore a pair of oversized red sneakers on his feet. The other had short-cut black hair with dark red highlights that was slicked back with a single spit curl that refused to be tamed, lightly-tanned skin, and black eyes. While the first had his eyes completely fixated on the Heroes at work on the road above them, the second caught a glimpse at the homeless as he ran off, a knot of worry forming in his stomach as he saw the teen's attire; or lack thereof.

"Oh! Kenji! Did you see how strong Deathgoro was when he saved that kid?" the freckle-faced teen asked.

"Ah, yeah, sure he is, Izuku," the slick-haired teen returned. "So, who do you think's gonna show up next?" he asked. However, before Izuku could reply, the cheer from a throng of fangirls cut him off.

"AAAAAAAH! IT'S KAMUI! YOU'RE OUR FAVORITE HERO!" the girls shouted as a Hero clad in a black body suit with wooden gloves, boots, and helmet covering his face jumped up to the tracks, standing at the ready to take the giant shark-like Villain down.

"Never mind," Kenji said silently as he and Izuku watched the wooden Hero square off against the Villain.

"It's Kamui Woods, he may be a new Hero, but he sure is making a big name for himself," Izuku said with such excitement as Kenji understood as well. As they watched the fight take place, they witnessed Kamui's wood Quirk take effect as he stretched his arm far to avoid the smack from the villain's giant hands and run right up his arm to go for the face. But the villain attacked the hero with his other hand as Kamui used his Quirk once more and landed on top of the train station to prepare for a counter move against this villain.

"You use your powers for assault, petty theft, injury and causing traffic for these hard-working folks who are just trying to make a living. You are evil incarnate, and this is the punishment you deserve!" Kamui stated as he stretched out his right arm as it began to literally branch out.

"Kenji look, it's his special move," Izuku said to his friend as they were about to witness a heroic move to detain this villain. "It's his Absolute Preemptive Confinement…"

"Lacquered Chains Prison!" Kamui said finishing Izuku's statement as he stretched his arm out to the villain as his arm turned to branches for the purpose of holding him in place and effectively capturing him. However…

"CANYON CANNON!" a giant Hero shouted as she kicked the villain hard in the face, knocking him into the street below.

"Oh, that's _gotta_ hurt," Kenji said as the giant Heroine looked over her shoulder, her shapely backside to the crowd. Multiple men with cameras or even camera _phones_ soon began swarming around her, or rather, her _rear_ as they all muttered- _"Money shot."_

"And Heroes _wonder_ why people think they're a bunch of glory-hogs," Kenji said to himself as Mount Lady continued to pose for the camera, completely sweeping the rug out from Kamui's wooden boots. Looking over to his childhood friend, he saw that Izuku was frantically scribbling notes into a well-used notebook. "Making notes about the new Hero, I see."

"Yeah, gotta make sure I keep taking notes for when either of us becomes a hero," Izuku said with a smile as he worked, and then began muttering to himself in a hushed tone, a habit which had gotten him the moniker "Mutteriya" by his peers. Of course, it's not like he ever let name-calling stop him from taking notes _before_.

"Glad to see some things never change," Kenji said as they watched the police chain up the Villain with Capture Gear, Mount Lady soaking up the limelight all the while. He felt a little bad for Kamui Woods who was sulking off to the side, but felt a little better knowing the man still had ardent fans who were willing to say they "still love" him. Turning his attention back to the alleyway from before, he saw the homeless teen from before poking his head out of the shadows, his scaly blue-colored skin coming into view. The moment the two locked eyes, the homeless teen ran off into the alley again, disappearing from sight. Before he was able to offer some help however-

"Kenji, we gotta get going! We're running late for school!" Izuku shouted as the crowd began to disperse.

"Oh crap, you're right!" Kenji said lookin down at his watch, the two making a mad dash for their school.

"By the way, what were you looking at before?" Izuku asked as they ran.

"That kid Deathgoro saved earlier, he looked like he really needed a helping hand," Kenji answered.

"Well, the fact that you can worry so much for a complete stranger just means you'll make for a great Hero," Izuku said with a smile. Whether it was using the enhanced senses that came with his Quirk to help lost children find their parents, or help little old ladies with bags of groceries across the street, Kenji was the sort who'd lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, just like his parents would. He'd even help the homeless whenever he could, pointing them toward the nearest shelter, even going as far as to help them along if they couldn't get there on their own.

"You don't need a _reason_ to help those in need," Kenji recited his mother's words with a smile. His parents, Takayuki and Mirei Matsuda were a top-notch defense attorney duo who always managed to get justice even when the odds weren't in their favor, and whenever they were asked why they'd take on cases for less than their nominal fare, the two of them would always reply- "You don't need to have a reason to help those in need." Because of their heartfelt desire to help people that most others would refuse, Kenji wanted to follow in their footsteps; helping those in need as a Hero, or barring that, as a DA if he couldn't get into a Hero High school.

"Right!" Izuku replied with a smile, happy to have someone like Kenji who stood by him, even when he received the stigma of being Quirkless.

* * *

 ***Middle School Classroom***

"Alright class settle down," the teacher stood before the room as he held a stack of papers in his hands. "As you know, you are all third year students. And this means it's time to be thinking about your futures. Normally I would hand out these future career forms, but…" The teacher then threw the papers into the air with a smile on his face. "I assume you all want to take the Hero course."

Everyone in the class, except for three students were displaying their Quirks in excitement at the mere mention of it. Izuku held his head down while slowly raising his hand up, Kenji sitting upright with his hand up while exercising the self-control his peers sorely lacked. Apart from Izuku and Kenji, the only other student not showing off their Quirk had his left foot propped up on his desk.

"I know you all have some very impressive Quirks," the teacher stated as he looked among his students as a vast majority of them had their Quirks activated from one kid inflating his head, another with huge sharp teeth, another student with wind swirling around her arm, and finally one kid pulling his eyeballs out of his skull.

That's just gross and disturbing to see.

"But you all know the rules, no using your powers in school. You know better than that," the teacher stated before the student who had his foot on the desk spoke out.

"Hey teach, don't lump me in with all of these losers. I'm gonna _go_ places while these idiots would end up as sidekicks to some D-rank hero," the blond-haired teen said as he gave everyone a confident and snarky sneer, the bulk of the class immediately turning on him. "Oh shut it you lousy extras! You ain't got shit on me!" the teen yelled at them again as the teacher looked over his grade book.

"Oh yes Bakugou, your test skills are indeed impressive. Perhaps you just might make it in Yuuei High," the teacher stated, much to everyone's shock.

"He's trying for the national school?"

"They only have a very small acceptance rate. And some of those people who do get in are from recommendations."

"It's basically impossible to get into."

"And that is exactly why I will get into Yuuei!" Bakugou stated as he stood up from his seat and onto his desk. "It's the only place for me to go. Hell I even aced the mock exams, so that means I'm the only one with the power to get into the school that all you extras can only _dream_ about."

Izuku tried his best not to look at Bakugou out of fear of him turning this rant about himself into a showcase of his sheer ferocity and strength. Kenji got his attention as he made some hand signals that only he and Izuku know about. _'Really, if he didn't make explosions from his hands I could swear his Quirk was inflating his own ego._ ' Kenji signed in the shorthand sign language, Izuku cracking a smile at the unsaid crack. Even if Bakugou _did_ see it, it wasn't like there was any way he could _prove_ what was being said because the two of them used non-standard signs and gestures.

"I will become more popular than All Might himself, and become the greatest hero the world has ever witnessed! I'll be so rich that I can buy a skyscraper for my headquarters, and this will all start when I get into Yuuei High!" Bakugou finished his rant as the class looked on.

"Oh right I almost forgot, Midoriya and Matsuda, you both plan on going to Yuuei High as well don't you?" the teacher asked as he saw their grades, remembering the two talk about attending Yuuei in the past. Of course, the moment he said that, the mood in the class ground to a screeching halt, Izuku flinching back when everyone's eyes landed on him, Kenji showing slightly less unease. Moments later, the students all began to laugh, Izuku's self-confidence taking yet another hit, while Kenji grit his teeth, just barely restraining himself from using his Quirk on the lot of them in such a small room.

Also, he didn't want to get his parents in trouble because he busted another set of windows and/or eyeglasses.

"Midoriya and the Crybaby? No way would those two losers make it!"

"Grades alone won't get you two peons into that school!"

"Matsuda has a horrible Quirk, and Midoriya doesn't even _have_ one!"

"W-Well that may be, but they got rid of that rule at Yuuei, so me and Kenji could be the very first to-" Izuku said in the face of his classmate's laughter moments before Bakugou slammed his hand on Izuku's desk sending him sprawling to the floor, shutting everyone up as the acrid smell of smoke hit those nearest to it.

"Listen up, Deku!" Bakugou shouted as he insulted the green-haired teen cowering on the floor. "Forget about these useless reject, you don't even _have_ a Quirk, you Quirkless _loser_! You think they'd let someone like you step foot on campus when they could have me instead?" he growled, growing angrier by the second as no-one tried to stop him, not even the teacher.

"B-But I've always dreamed of being a hero, and I thought that I could make it there and be just like them..." Izuku tried to explain. Bakugou grew tired of hearing "Deku's" prattling, raising his explosion-clad hand up into the air. However, before he could turn his Quirk on the Quirkless teenager, a chair on his immediate right screeched out before Kenji got right in Bakugou's face, shielding Izuku when no-one else would.

"Leave him alone, Baku- _baka_ ," Kenji said through grit teeth. "That's not your decision to make!"

"Or what? You gonna cry really loud like a baby and call for help?" Bakugou taunted, sick and tired of how the "Crybaby" always stopped him from wailing on Izuku. "That's all you're good for, really; calling for help. You're even more useless than everyone else in here but me, so get out of the way or else you'll regret ever standing up to me!"

"Give it your best shot, Baku-baka!" Kenji said as he raised his voice, the students nearest to him covering their ears as the teen's decibel output spiked. Kenji Matsuda's Quirk, [Loud Voice], basically lets him amplify the sound he put out to exceed that of a stadium loudspeaker. While on-paper it wasn't as strong as Bakugou's [Explosion], at the very least he was confident enough he could bust an eardrum or two before he got any permanent burn damage from the angry teen.

"Bakugou, that's enough!" the teacher shouted before the two came to blows. "Leave the two of them alone and get back in your seat or I'll put this incident on your permanent record!"

While that didn't sound all that bad once you said it out loud, threats of _that_ nature were actually the only way to restrain Bakugou before he actually hurt someone with his Quirk. Kenji getting rough-housed by those with stronger Quirks was actually part of the reason why all Quirk-related incidents resulted in black marks on permanent records; because the school district was afraid the Matsuda family, the best lawyers in three prefectures, would file a lawsuit for abuse on their child. Were it not for this rule, Bakugou would've been able to get away with doing much worse to Izuku than hurling insults at him.

Clicking his tongue angrily, Bakugou reluctantly went back to his seat while Kenji helped Izuku to his feet.

"You alright, Izuku?"

"Y-yeah, thank you, Kenji," Izuku replied as he went to the back of the room to get a replacement desk.

Let's just say when one of your class' angriest had a Quirk like [Explosion], you tended to keep spares within arm's reach.

* * *

 ***Downtown 2:30 PM***

The homeless teen from before was walking by the street where some convenience stores were positioned, since he was still really thirsty; that Hero and all the excitement from earlier had scared him away from the train station, and he was trying to find another fountain.

 _'Crap, I'm so thirsty. Stupid Villain making a scene and attracting so much attention from the Heroes. I got to get something in me before I die,'_ the homeless teen thought held his stomach. As many people passed by him without even a care or worry, only one person noticed him on the ground.

"Hey kid," a voice spoke up, the homeless teen looking up to see an overly-skinny man with sharp angular features and long skinny limbs looking down at him. He had spiky, disheveled hair with two bangs framing the sides of his face and no eyebrows. His attire consisted of a baggy white shirt and dark green cargo pants that looked several sizes too large for him, a pair of brown shoes on his feet. "You look like you could use something to eat or something," the man said, the homeless teen quickly looking down to keep his face covered. The blonde haired man saw this reaction as he inspected the boy. He looked tired, malnourished, and in need of medical help. The blonde man didn't know where to start so he decided to give him something instead out of the kindness of his heart. "I don't know why you're hiding your face, but take this, you look like you really need it. I got two from the vending machine by accident earlier so it's no bother for me," he said putting a bottle of water down in front of the malnourished teen.

The malnourished teen looked at the bottle for a moment before glancing up at the skinny man in front of him, before unscrewing the cap from the bottle and chugging it down like he'd been in a desert for days on end. At the same time, the blond-haired man felt really bad for him, deciding to go into the convenience store and get him some food he'd been planning on getting for himself.

"Th... Thank you, sir," the homeless teen said in a scratchy voice that said he hadn't talked much in a long time.

"It's no problem young man, it was the right thing to do anyway," the blonde man said as he entered the store. A minute later and the man had exited, greeted not by the homeless teen from before, but instead by a crowd watching someone run down the street.

"Thief! Stop him!" a store clerk shouted, pointing to a giant sludge villain with dollar bills spilling out of his form. However, that wasn't what the blond man was paying the most attention to.

"Don't try and stop me! If you do, I'll hurt this kid!" the sludge villain shouted as he fled the scene, a blue-colored limb briefly poking out.

"Geez, where're the Heroes?" one bystander asked as he looked at the sludge villain.

"I think they might still be busy dealing with the damage from this morning," another answered.

"This could be tricky for them. I think I saw a _blue_ kid sticking out of him," a third stated, confirming the blond man's worst fear. Stepping back and out of sight, the once-skinny man suddenly bulked up into a more-massive version of himself covered head to toe with rippling muscles that filled out the once-baggy clothes he wore. No-one saw the transformation, save one pair of eyes sticking out of the side of the sludge Villain.

"Isn't there anyone who can stop him?" another bystander worriedly asked.

 **"Why, yes there is, good citizens!"** the formerly-skinny man said in a now booming voice, everyone who looked upon the man smiling brightly. **"And do you know why?"** he asked, the sludge villain looking back in fright as the crowed parted before the blond-haired man. **"That is because _I_ am here!" **he proclaimed bombastically as he took off after the sludge Villain, the surrounding crowd cheering him on all the way.

* * *

 ***Back at the middle school***

It was the end of the day as everyone was gathering their things to go home. Some people were making plans to hang out while others went back home to do homework. Out in one of the hallways, Kenji stood over Izuku's shoulder as they looked at his phone, the freckle-faced teen cycling through photos.

"Whoa, that fight from this morning is all over the news. Check out all of these images people took," Izuku said as he went through the captured images from the fight they witnessed. Fortunately, there were none on his stream of Mount Lady's _ass_ ets.

There was a completely _different_ website for images like that.

"Uh huh..." Kenji returned unenthusiastically.

"You still thinking about that homeless kid?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah... Seeing that kind of thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth," his friend answered. "I mean, we live in a world where eighty percent of the populous has superpowers, and that number's growing smaller every day. Yet we've still got things like famine and drought and homelessness..."

"I see where you're coming from," Izuku returned. "Until we find that guy again, I have some new thoughts for my Hero Notes," he said holding the well-worn book up, only for Bakugou to snatch it out of his hands.

"Deku! I'm nowhere _near_ finished with you yet!" Bakugou growled, his two flunkies from grade school behind him.

"Hey Bakugou, what's that you got in your hands, buddy?" the kid with the Quirk [Fingers] asked.

"Looks like some ratty notebook," the rotund kid with the Quirk [Wings] added.

"Future Hero Notes for Kenji and Me... _Wow_ that's just pathetic. You actually think either one of you losers can become a Hero? You're nothing but _trash_ next to me," Bakugou sneered.

"We'll see who the _trash_ is when we become better Heroes than _you_ jerks!" Kenji barked at them, his [Loud Voice] causing them to flinch back. Last time they picked on him, they'd been left with ringing ears for three hours and possibly tinnitus, and the one time they tried covering his mouth so he couldn't use his Quirk, the kid with [Fingers] almost _lost_ one.

Suffice it to say, from then-on the three of them chose the _lesser_ of two pains.

"Kacchan, just give it back, please," Izuku pleaded, the boy nearly jumping out of his skin as Bakugou proceeded to singe the book with his Quirk. Izuku's expression soon became fearful as Bakugou reared his arm back to throw it out the window, however, before the blond could, Kenji's hand shot forward snagging his wrist, stopping him mid-toss.

"Unless you like the sound of nails on a chalk board at full-volume, I suggest you drop the book, and walk away," Kenji growled through grit teeth.

"Tch," Bakugou clicked his tongue angrily. He knew he could take the Matsuda kid down, no sweat, but he decided to drop it otherwise his mom would get on his case again. "Let's make one thing clear, _Crybaby_ ," Bakugou said as he dropped the book, only to grind his heel onto the cover. "The only one going to Yuuei outta this crappy school is gonna be _me_! Not you, and not Deku! In other words, if the two of you even _try_ to do better than me, I'll make sure neither of you even _make it_ to the entrance exams. But hey, if you wanna be a Hero, it's very simple. Just take a swan dive off the roof and pray you actually get a Quirk in your next life," he said with a mean chuckle.

"Yeah yeah. Now run along, Baku-baka. I think I hear your mommy calling," Kenji returned, Bakugou seething before he whirled around on his heel and stormed off, his two flunkies following fearfully forthwith. "What an asshole," Kenji spit out as soon as they were out of earshot, before turning to his friend as he dejectedly picked up the remains of his notebook. "Don't listen to him, Izuku. The guy's got a personality like crap steeped in sewage. No _way_ he'll become more-popular than All Might."

"Yeah... I suppose you're right..." Izuku said sadly as the edges of his notebook came apart in his hands.

"Hey, c'mon, it's like All Might says," Kenji said clapping Izuku on the back, the green-haired kid looking up to see his friend giving him a big cheesy grin that crinkled his eyes. "The people in this world who can smile are _always_ the strongest!"

"Right," Izuku returned with his own smile, albeit a bit shaky. "Even if I don't make it... I know that _you_ at least can become a great Hero."

"Don't you mean _we_ can become great _Heroes_?" Kenji corrected. "Who cares if you do or don't have a Quirk? Quirks aren't what makes a Hero great, it's what they _do_ that makes them great, and even if All Might _didn't_ have the power he had, I'm sure he would've rescued people from that burning freeway all the same. So don't give up on your dream just yet, alright?"

"Right!" Izuku returned, feeling completely rejuvenated as he let out a big bombastic laugh not unlike his idol.

"Okay, dial back the laughter a little," Kenji chuckled. "You're nothing if not spirited, and that's something Bakugou will _never_ have."

After that the two gathered their things, leaving the school and heading home in much better spirits. As they were passing through an above-ground tunnel on the way to their house, Kenji put his hand out in front of Izuku, a finger to his lips as he craned his head around, ears perked up.

 _"What's the matter?"_ Izuku whispered.

 _"I hear something..."_ Kenji said as he turned his attention to the wormhole.

"M-Maybe it's the sewer backing up again?" Izuku guessed. Wouldn't be the _first_ time that happened.

"No, it sounds _louder_ than that. Like... footsteps... and something else," he said trying to pick out the noise. Eyes widening a few moments later, he shouted- "Run for it!" -moments before the manhole was thrown upwards by a column of sludge, a pair of big yellow eyes and jagged teeth coming into view. However, before the two could get away from him, the living sludge wrapped itself around them.

"Two new bodies to hide in. I can only pick one, and this _twig_ isn't worth the trouble he got me into," the sludge villain said as he cast the homeless teen from that morning away before redirecting his attention to his new victims. "Hmmm, decisions, decisions..." the villain hummed as he covered the two's mouths.

At the same time, Izuku's mind was going a mile a minute as he and Kenji tried to free themselves. _'My body's getting weaker by the second... Oh god... I think I'm about to die...'_ he thought as he desperately clawed at the sludge around his face, only to no avail.

"Meh, the freckles aren't doing it for me. Guess it's _your_ lucky day!" the sludge villain sneered as he made his choice.

 _'Oh no! Kenji!'_ Izuku cried as the villain eyed his friend hungrily. However, right before the sludge villain could do _whatever_ he was going to do, Kenji's airway was freed up, an opportunity the lawyers' son wasn't willing to pass up.

 _ **"HEEEEELP!"**_ he cried out with his [Loud Voice], the sludge villain's hand going to nonexistent ears as his body rippled, the teen's voice going out in all directions causing people to turn their attention towards him.

"Shut up. Shut up! shut _up_!" the sludge villain growled out as he tried to pry Kenji's mouth open, only for the teen to blast him with another wave of sound completely disorienting the villain.

 _'Of course! Sound moves four times faster through water than it does through air, and since this Villain's_ _practically_ made _of water, he's feeling every decibel of Kenji's Quirk!_ ' Izuku realized as the sludge around his face peeled away. Not even a moment later, before the sludge villain could recover from Kenji's auditory assault, a massive blond-haired man with his hair sticking up like rabbit ears suddenly shot out of the manhole, his feet leaving cracks in the ground.

 **"Have no fear, for _I_ am here!" **a bombastic voice proclaimed.

"All Might!" the sludge villain and his two victims gawped out, one out of fear, one with relief, and one with complete admiration. "You're not gonna stop me!" the sludge villain growled as he charged forward, his two hostages held at chest level acting as human shields, much to the Symbol of Peace's consternation. However, before the villain could close the distance, Kenji freed himself and shouted- **"LET US GOOOOO!"** -right into the sludge Villain's ear, the living muck recoiling and dropping the two to the ground, giving the Hero the opening he needed.

 **"Thanks for the help young man, I couldn't risk any harm coming to either one of you,"** the hero said as he reared his arm back, muscles shifting like tectonic plates as he bellowed- **"TEXAS... SMASH!"** -, the air pressure of his punch causing the sludge Villain to _literally_ go to pieces, his sludge-colored mass splattered all over the ground, leaving his two hostages free to refill their airways.

"Oh god... I'm _never_ gonna be able to get the smell out of my uniform," Kenji retched before looking over to the side. "Holy cow, you're..."

"All Might..." Izuku said wistfully before fainting on the spot.

"Izuku!" Kenji cried forgetting all about the _stank_ of his uniform as he turned to his friend. "C'mon, I know you're not dead, I can still hear your heartbeat! Wake up or you won't be able to get All Might's autograph!"

 **"Looks like the lad's only in need of a breather,"** All Might said before turning his attention to the homeless teen from before. Pressing a finger to the side of his neck, after a few seconds he found a pulse, the Hero letting out a sigh of relief. **"Ah, good, the boy is unharmed,"** he said just as the boy began to come do. **"I still don't know why you're afraid to show your face, but at the very least I'll respect your privacy,"** the man said as he pulled the teen's hood over his head before turning his attention elsewhere.

"Izuku! Wake up! You're gonna miss your chance!" Kenji cried. He was certain that out of their age group, Izuku was _the_ biggest All Might fan, no questions asked. It was certainly easy to buy birthday gifts for the guy, but if he slept through this, the boy would never be able to forgive himself for missing out on the chance for an autograph. "C'mon, wakeup, wakeup, wakeup!"

 **"Please, fine citizen, allow me to try,"** All Might said with a reassuring smile as he got down on one knee. The next moment, to Kenji's shock, All Might began lightly slapping Izuku in the face. **"Hey, wake up little man, oi,"** he said as he continued, his efforts bearing fruit as, a few minutes later, the green-haired boy came to. **"Good, you're awake. For a second there I thought we lost you,"** he said relieved, Izuku's eyes widening before he began to babble incoherently in the face of his favorite Hero. **"Sorry you two got caught up in all this. I tried to keep up with this vile evildoer, but the nearby sewers were hard to navigate,"** he explained, a sweat drop on his head as Izuku continued to babble. **"Anyhow... you were very brave young man. If you hadn't called out for help as loudly as you did, I might not have been able to get to you in time,"** he said clapping a hand on Kenji's shoulder.

"The Sludge Villain! What happened to the Sludge Villain?" Izuku cried when he found his words.

 **"Fear not, for the Villain has now been contained in these cylindrical capture units,"** All Might proclaimed as he pats two large bottles in his side pockets, each filled with sludge and a single crossed-out eye bobbing inside of them.

 _'I'm never gonna be able to drink bottled water ever again,'_ Kenji thought as he gagged, the taste of the Sludge Villain fresh on his tongue.

"Wait! Don't go yet! I still need your autograph!" Izuku cried as he scuttled across the ground looking for his notebook. "Where is it? Where is it?!"

 **"Here you go."**

"HE ALREADY SIGNED IT!" Izuku squealed in both shock and delight as he locked eyes with the hero's titular signature.

"Where'd he even find the _time_?" Kenji asked with shock. Him capturing the villain _and_ signing Izuku's notebook took _way_ too little time to make sense.

 **"Hahaha! It's easy for me when you're the Symbol of Peace!"** All Might proclaimed as though that answered everything. **"Well, I have to get this criminal to the police, so stay out of your trouble you three. Oh, and if you could step back so I could take off, that'd be appreciated,"** All Might said as he stepped back, doing some stretches before leaping off into the distance.

"Wow..." Kenji said looking on in awe, never imagining he'd get to meet Japans No. 1 Hero in person, least of all not _today_. "Man, the pictures don't do that guy justice, do they Izuku?" No reply. "Izuku?" Still no reply.

"Uwaaag!"

"Oh crap! Izuku!" Kenji gaped as he squinted his eyes, seeing his friend's form dangling off of All Might's leg mid-flight, clutching onto it like there was no tomorrow. " . . . Well, at least he couldn't be in safer hands," he sighed.

At the same time, the homeless teen woke up, taking in his surroundings after the rather _harrowing_ experience he'd just had. _'Where am I? How did I get here? Last thing I remember was the sludge-'_ he thought as he flailed about, thinking he were still trapped.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, you're safe," a voice said above him. "It's alright, All Might saved us, you're safe now."

Hearing that and seeing no sign of the sludge villain, the homeless teen calmed down, only to realize that in his flailing he'd thrown his hood off, the student standing over him getting a look at his face. Panicking, the teen scrambled to his feet, a single word causing him to falter.

"Wait!"

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the dark-haired teen simply standing there, a single hand held out.

"I don't know why it is you keep running away, but at the very least, let me _try_ to help you," the student stated, the homeless teen pausing, unsure what to do. On the one hand, the guy in front of him seemed like he really wanted to help, but on the other he'd been beaten up and left for dead so many times for no reason, he wasn't willing to open up to people. However, the one who ultimately made the decision for him was his stomach, which rumbled like an earthquake. "Don't need super hearing to know you're _hungry,_ " the teen chuckled. "C'mon, I know a noodle stand just around the corner that can help with that," he offered, kindly, the homeless teen mulling over it for a moment as he followed after.

For the next couple minutes, the teen followed the student in front of him, Kenji as he introduced himself, toward what he hoped was actually a hot meal and not a beating. There weren't any back alleys, only open roads much to his surprise, the two arriving at said noodle shop before his stomach could growl again. However, the noodle _shop_ was more of a noodle _cart_ , but in this case, beggars _literally_ couldn't be choosers.

"Good evening, Wok-san," Kenji greeted as the two of them walked through the curtain. "Two large orders of shrimp noodles please," he requested, the old man nodding his head as he got to work with unreal speed, he and he homeless teen taking their seats. There was an awkward silence as they waited, neither of them saying anything until eventually, it was Kenji who broke the silence. "So um... _Wow_ there's no gentle way to say this... How long have you been on the streets for?"

The homeless teen froze, pondering if he should tell this random person just because he asked, as well as because he was giving him food. However, looking at him, something about his eyes made him want to trust the guy.

"T... Ten y-years," he eventually answered, Kenji's eyes widening in shock.

"That long?!" Kenji gawped, eyes wide before he asked- "What about your family? Friends?"

"I-I'm all alone," the teen answered, the knot of dread in Kenji's stomach tightening.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am," Kenji sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, spit-curl once-more coming down over his brow. "My name's Kenji. Kenji Matsuda. What's yours?"

The homeless teen looked down before he said his name. "Ryu, Ryu Soshi."

Before Ryu could say anything more, the bowls of noodles were placed in front of them, the broth glistening like liquid gold, the shrimp like jewels in a treasure chest. Ryu's stomach growled once more, the teen shakily breaking apart the chopsticks in front of him, trying to remember when he'd last eaten a warm meal. Realizing he couldn't remember, his stomach growled once more, compelling him to eat. While Kenji ate with chopsticks, Ryu dug right in, tipping the bowl as he let the noodles slide into his waiting mouth.

"I take it you're enjoying yourself," Kenji stated, Ryu enthusiastically nodding his head before his bowl came empty moments later. "Here, you can have mine," he said pushing his bowl forward.

"R-Really?" Ryu asked even as he pulled the bowl toward him.

"I'm sure," Kenji said reaching into his uniform, the blue-skinned boy flinching back before realizing it was only a wallet. Then he flinched again when he remembered they had switchblade wallets out there, only to relax again when the only thing Kenji pulled out was a small stack of bills.

"Wok-san, keep the noodles coming, please," he requested, the old man behind the counter nodding his head as he took the money and got to work.

"Why...?" Ryu asked as he stared down at his food. "Why are you helping me?"

" . . . Do you _need_ to have a reason to help those in need?" Kenji asked, the homeless teen feeling an unfamiliar warmth washing over him, a wetness sliding down dirt-caked cheeks. Raising his hand away from his food, Ryu realized he'd broken down into tears, his lip quivering and his shoulders shaking. "In a world filled with wondrous Quirks like ours, people shouldn't be able to go hungry like this, so go on, eat until you're full. We can talk when you're finished," Kenji said softly, the sobbing of tears intermixed with the slurping of his noodles and the fryer front of him.

Twenty minutes later, Ryu had eaten his fill, a sense of contentedness washing over him as he rubbed his belly, a stack of bowls sitting in front of him. Realizing that the tears from his eyes had made the dirt on his face runny, the homeless teen scrambled for some napkins, the uniform-clad teen sitting next to him holding some out for him.

"Was it good?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah... So tasty..." Ryu replied with a satisfied smile as he wiped his face.

"So... I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but why are you hiding your face like that?" Kenji asked, Ryu flinching as he pulled his hood down over his face.

"Because... Because I'm a freak," Ryu stated, much to Kenji's confusion. "I look like a monster... People take one look at me and they think I'm some sort of freak..." he said with trembling shoulders. "I'm just an outsider... Always looking in... Never belonging anywhere," he said as fresh tears began to fall on the counter.

"Ryu... You're not a monster, and you're definitely not a freak," Kenji argued. "I don't think you're _any_ of what you said."

"But look at me!" he shouted as he pulled down his hood, letting his scaly blue skin come into view. "What part of this doesn't look like a monster?!"

" . . . Look at these pictures," Kenji said as he pulled out his phone, tilting it so the homeless teen could see. "What do you see?"

"I see... a girl with green skin."

"And this one?"

"A guy with a shark-face."

"And this one here?"

"Horns like a Mohawk."

"What about this?"

"A girl with a snake-head... Why do you have pictures like this?" Ryu asked.

"I don't. These are just random pictures from a search engine when I put in the word _Quirk,_ " Kenji answered. "Ryu, all those people you've met before don't reel back because they think you're a freak, or a monster. They all reeled back because people can be major assholes who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves," he said as a certain blond came to mind. "Ryu, it isn't what's on the outside it makes you a monster, it's what's on the _inside_ , and in some cases, like with that slimeball we had the misfortune of meeting today, that monstrous outside matches a monstrous outside. And you... You're no monster. You're just a kid who's been down on his luck for a really long time, and someone should've helped you sooner."

"You... Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do. Like I said before, you don't need to have a reason to help those in need," Kenji returned, taken aback when the blue-skinned teen leapt forward and wrapped his arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. After a few moments, Kenji just gave the guy a pat on the back, riding out the moment until an explosion went off in the distance, causing the two to jump out of their skin.

"What was that!?"

"It came from the Tatooin shopping district," Kenji answered as he got up from his seat.

"How can you tell?"

"I heard it."

"I think we _all_ heard it," Ryu said as everyone looked off into the distance, a cloud of smoke rising into the air.

"No, I mean I _heard_ it," Kenji said tugging at his ears. Clambering atop a nearby fire hydrant, the slick-haired teen cupped his hands around his ears, scrunching his brow in concentration as he opened up his senses, a cacophony of nonsensical babble and gibberish washing over him like a tidal wave. His brow scrunching even further as he grits his teeth, he began to filter out all the garbage in the air, picking out key words. However, two words in particular stood out above all others.

 ** _"Sludge Villain!"_**

"Well... it's not _my_ problem..." Kenji thought aloud. "Still, I should probably see how this plays out. Izuku will probably want to make some notes on amorphous-type Quirks," he said as he ran off, waving Ryu to follow after him.

The two arriving at the Tatooin shopping district moments later through a back alley, an unmistakable smell of putrid sewage assaulted the two's nostrils, the two teenagers looking on to see that the Sludge Villain from before had taken a hostage, several Heroes lined up to intervene. While the police ordered everyone back, Kenji angled his head around the crowd to see that the cur's latest victim was Bakugou. Deathgoro leapt into the air and delivered a punch to the Villain, however, it was all for naught as the Villain's liquid body made the attack completely ineffective.

"What the- My punch had no effect on him!"

 _'Really? I didn't notice!'_ Kenji deadpanned. _This_ was the kind of guy people looked up to?

"Stay back or I'll snap the kid's neck!" the Sludge Villain shouted.

"Rrrrrgh!" Bakugou growled as he struggled to free himself. "You picked the wrong person to mess with you overgrown piece of crap! I'll burn you to a crisp!" he raged as he fired off his [Explosion].

 **"YOU DUMBASS!"** Kenji roared out as Bakugou only made things _worse_ , lighting a nearby stand on fire and forcing the Heroes back.

"Oh my, so much power for just a tiny human. I really hit the _jackpot_ with this one, you're _much_ better than those other skinsuits I tried to try on today! With your Quirk in my hands, I'll be able to have my revenge on even All Might!" the Sludge Villain ranted as though he were already victorious.

"At least it isn't _me_ this time," Kenji sighed as he looked around for a familiar mop of green hair, and if that didn't work, oversized red shoes.

"Look! It's that new Hero, Mount Lady!" a civilian said as a tall, _curvy_ shadow loomed over them.

"Oh crap, I need a two-lane road to maneuver about, my only weakness."

 **"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"** Kenji raged at the incompetence of these Heroes.

"This isn't good," Kamui Woods said as he saved two students. "Fire and wood don't really mix well."

 _'Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,'_ Kenji thought with a twitching eye, not feeling the need to say it out loud.

"I got my hands full with these flaming buildings," Backdraft, a fireman-themed Rescue Hero said as he shot water out of his faucet-shaped hands. "Where are those fire trucks?"

Kenji _wanted_ to say they were still ten minutes out based on the noise, but he doubted any of them would believe him.

"I don't know, but it ain't looking good for us either," Deathgoro said trying to think of what to do next. "That Villain's body is too slippery to get a grip of, and that kid's Quirk is causing more trouble for us, it's like a _minefield_ out there."

 _'Really? You couldn't think to grab Bakugou_ instead _?_ ' Kenji thought to himself.

"Until help arrives, we have to keep the damage to a minimum, and the people safe," Backdraft stated as more buildings were lit on fire in the wake of Bakugou's hissy fit.

As the crowd looked on, no-one noticed a super-scrawny version of All Might watching from the shadows, witnessing the scene as it unfolded. _'Dammit, so that's where he went to,'_ he thought, remembering how Izuku had held onto his leg for dear life and realizing _that_ was when the Sludge Villain had gotten away from him. _'I lost track of how much time I had left. What a rookie mistake. Even after I told that kid about what it meant to be a Hero... I'm so pathetic right now,'_ he thought, cursing his own weakness.

* * *

 ***With Izuku***

At the same time, Izuku was completely down, wallowing in sadness as he thought about what All Might had said to him.

 _Make sure your dreams are attainable. You'll never be able to defeat a Villain without powers. Nobody needs a Quirkless loser like you trying to play Hero._

Okay maybe that last one was Kacchan... But All Might's words hurt more than anything his other childhood friend had ever said to him. Everyday, Kenji told him even without a Quirk he could become a Hero, and Bakugou told him the opposite. But what _All Might_ had said... It hit him like a freight train, and he didn't think he'd be able to recover from that rejection. Learning the truth about All Might, for what it was, couldn't make him feel any better.

"A Hero needs a Quirk... Even All Might _himself_ said it," Izuku muttered, tearing up. "I guess... all that effort in proving everyone wrong was for nothing..."

"Izuku?"

"K-Kenji?" he said as he wiped his tears, looking up to see his longtime friend, while trailing behind him like a shadow was a homeless teenager, his face obscured by the hoodie he wore.

"Izuku, what's wrong? Did that asshole Bakugou say something to you?" Kenji asked. "Well, whatever he said, he's getting what he's got coming _now_."

"N-No, it wasn't anything Kacchan said," Izuku said waving his hands.

"Well, what _is_ it then? I've never seen you cry this bad since... since you were told you didn't have a Quirk."

"I... I don't want to talk about it," Izuku returned. "Who um... Who's your friend?"

"This is Ryu. I'm hoping my mom will let me take him in for a couple days until we can sort out a better place for him to live," Kenji answered. "Ryu, this is Izuku. He's a friend of mine, you can trust him."

"H-Hello..." the blue-skinned teen greeted nervously, still uncomfortable with large crowds, especially one with Heroes in it.

"So... I see the Sludge Villain from before has decided to make another appearance," Kenji said looking over his shoulder at the ongoing shitshow. "I don't know how he got away from All Might, we could really _use the help_ right now," he said before noticing Izuku's sudden hitch of his heartbeat, not knowing that it was Izuku's fault, or that he blamed himself for Bakugou's current straits.

At the same time, Ryu was fidgeting nervously as he hid behind Kenji, trying to look as small as possible. The crowd murmuring among themselves, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the skinny form of All Might, just standing at the edge of the crowd and looking on. _'Isn't that All Might right there? Why isn't he bulking up and stopping this?'_ he thought before noticing how All Might was clutching at his left side. _'Is he... Is All Might hurt? Is_ that _why he isn't doing anything?_ '

"Kacchan..." Izuku muttered to himself, once again confronted with the fact that this was probably _his_ fault. Looking through the crowd, past the fire and the smoke and the panic, for a brief instant he saw the look in Bakugou's eyes and then...

His body just moved on its own.

 **Cue My Hero Academia OST - Just Say Run**

"IZUKU!" Kenji tried to run after his friend, only to feel a set of hands grabbing the back of his uniform. "Ryu! Let go! I have to help him!"

"You can't! Let someone else do it! Neither of us can do anything!" Ryu argued as his friend, his _first_ friend, continued to struggle. Not only didn't he want to lose that, but he was also afraid of the Heroes, afraid they'd think he was a villain with his monstrous appearance.

"I might've said Bakugou had this coming, but even _he_ doesn't deserve to go out like that," Kenji growled, debating whether or not to just slip out of his jacket and run for it. "But more importantly, Izuku's my friend, and friend's don't abandon each other!"

"But if you go too, you'll get hurt as well!" Ryu shouted back, the crowd beginning to watch the byplay between the two of them.

"I'd rather help someone and get hurt than stand by and do nothing!" Kenji shouted as he finally escaped Ryu's grasp, working his way towards Izuku, who at the moment had shewn his schoolbag into the air and flung its contents into the Sludge Villain's face, gouging one of its eyes. At that moment, all the Heroes cried out as a _second_ middle schooler ran out into the pyre, his body moving on its own. Even Bakugou was shocked by the actions of Deku and the Crybaby. As the green-haired teen frantically tried to claw away the sludge from Bakugou's face, saying _something to_ him, the Sludge Villain raised up a gelatinous arm to strike him down. "Izuku!" Kenji cried as his heart pounded in his chest and the world slowed to a crawl. Adrenaline flooding his system like the stopper on a dam had been undone, the Quirk Factor within his body responded to his ardent will, swelling to crescendo as he shouted- "HEY! SLIMEBALL!" -, drawing the Villain's attention away from Izuku and onto him. "GET AWAY... FROM MY FRIEND... RIGHT... **_NOOOOOOOW!_** " he roared, a column of concentrated sound waves shooting out of his maw like a bazooka, striking the Villain in the shoulder and blasting it clean off. _'Wait... Was that..._ me _?!'_ Kenji gawped as the Sludge Villain cried out in pain, much to the surprise of the other Heroes.

"Kenji! That was amazing! Do it again, I've almost got him!" Izuku cried as he clawed at the Sludge Villain with renewed vigor.

"ARGH! You bastard! You're gonna _pay_ for that!" the Sludge Villain shouted as he positioned Bakugou's arm towards Kenji.

"KENJI!" Izuku cried as the blast came toward him faster than he could dodge.

"NOOOOO!" Ryu shouted as the ground at his feet exploded and he shot forward, pushing Kenji out of the way, his body too moving on its own. _'Why... Why am I doing this?'_ he asked as the world slowed to a crawl around him. _'Why... am I trying to save them? Kenji... I only met him just today so why... Why am I doing this?'_

 ** _"You don't need to have a reason to help those in need."_**

 _'He's right... You_ don't _need to have a reason..._ ' Ryu realized, thinking back to Kenji, and All Might's kindness before him. _'Maybe... this is what it means to be a Hero... Maybe I was wrong about them all along,'_ he thought as he closed his eyes, the blast completely smothering him. Back at the end of the street, the civilians could only gawp at the display before them, their feelings contradictory.

"Damn, there's no way that kid could survive, what an idiot."

"I know; he just threw his life away for no reason."

"Oh man, did you see that?"

"Yeah! That homeless guy took that blast head-on!"

"What was that idiot thinking when he did that?"

One woman, dressed in business attire with blonde hair tied up in a bun, meanwhile looked at this in a different view. _'That boy... He rescued a complete stranger from harm, even at the risk of himself... That boy has the makings of a true Hero,'_ Ryukyu, the No. 9 Hero in the country, thought, knowing this fight was far from over.

"RYU!" Izuku and Kenji shouted.

"HAHAHAHA! Look at that, I got me some first blood! Now to deal with this pathetic maggot right in front of me," the Villain taunting as he grew his arm back. Gelatinous arm raised once more to strike Izuku down, before he could, a blue ray of light struck him in the same spot Kenji had with his [Loud Voice], the Sludge Villain reeling back as his arm fell off a second time. "DAMMIT! WHO DID THAT!?" the Villain shouted, wonder where a Hero with _that_ ability had come from.

Moments later, he and the rest of the bystanders got their answer, the smoke clearing around where Ryu once stood, his hands directly in the firing lane from the beam that had just been fired. Eyes all around widened, even from the No. 1 Hero and the No. 9 Heroine, as the homeless teen from before stood defiantly of the Villain in front of him, completely unharmed save for his clothes.

"I will not... let you..." Ryu growled as his hoodie fell away, revealing his blue-scaled form to all around him. "HURT! MY! FRIENDS!" he roared, arms thrown back as the scales across his body began to harden, forming thick plates of armor all over his body. His shoulder armor was red with two spikes protruding from the back, as did the armor over armor over his forearms and the backs of his hands. The teen's once emaciated chest swelled as plates of white armor began to form, a purple gemstone appearing in the center. Over his head, a red scale-patterned helmet began to form, the horn protruding from his forehead growing in length and a long serpentine tail sprouted out of his tailbone, giving a more draconic appearance than he already had.

 _'These boys... Every one of their bodies moved on their own, even when they knew the consequences that would come of it,'_ All Might thought as he watched the young boys fight, left hand clutching his side while his right gripped the lamp post in front of him. _'I have to do something... No matter the cost!'_ the No. 1 Hero raged as he dug deep into the well of One for All that lay inside him, his body beginning to bulk up once again.

"So you had something like this all along, huh?" the Sludge Villain thought before narrowing his eyes. "Get ready to die then you homeless freak!" he shouted as he drew his other arm back, deciding that the body in his possession was still more than sufficient.

"He is _not_ a freak!" Kenji shouted, catching the Villain's attention as he reared his head back, sucking in air. " ** _NOISE MISSILE_!** " he raged, the same power as before spilling out of his mouth and taking the Sludge Villain's arm off, only, it was as though giving it a name had granted it _greater_ power, the attack now tinged a deep red, the shockwaves rippling through his liquid body.

" _You_ again! GAH!" Before the Sludge Villain could round on Kenji, Ryu had once again fired a powerful blast with both hands out, the ray of light taking out the Villain's other arm and _disarming_ him. "Dammit that hurts so much... I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" the Villain shouted as he willed his body to grow larger, moving in for the finishing blow.

"NO YOU WON'T!" Kenji and Ryu shouted as they both dove forward, shielding Izuku's body with their own as he struggled to pull Bakugou free. The other Heroes finally running out into the fire, a new figure rushed past all of them, blocking the Sludge Villain's strike with his arm, his other hand grasping Bakugou's arm atop Izuku's.

 **"I truly _am_ pathetic."**

"All Might...?" Izuku looked on, wondering how the man was doing this even though he said he'd expended his time limit.

 **"The lesson I left with you... I should've practiced what I've been preaching... A HERO SHOULD _ALWAYS_ BE WILLING TO RISK HIS LIVES!" **he shouted as he smacked the Sludge Villain's arm away. **"DETROIT... SMASH!"** he roared as he once more blasted the Sludge Villain away, the force of the wind so great that it sent nearby civilians onto their asses while Kenji and Ryu were sent against All Might's legs. Once the wind subsided, the pressure blast actually caused the weather above them to change, a light downpour beginning to descend upon what was left of the Tatooin shopping district. **"Have no fear... for I am here!"** All Might proclaimed as he raised his fist, the crowd going absolutely wild.

* * *

Afterwards, the Heroes and the Police managed to collect all of Sludge Villain that All Might had scattered, the Fire Department arriving to put out the last of the fires that had been started. Bakugou couldn't believe he'd been saved by Deku, the Crybaby, and some _homeless_ kid, though all the while he received praise and accolades from the Heroes around him "for being so brave in the face of danger". As for the middle school students and the homeless teen that had lunged head-first into danger...

Izuku was completely exhausted now that his adrenaline had worn off, his uniform a little singed but other than that he was still alive. Kenji was in much the same straits, except his throat was extremely sore from how high he'd pushed his Quirk. Ryu had fallen to his knees, the armor that had once formed over his body flaking away like a snake's skin once the fighting had ended. Despite the fact that _Bakugou_ had been the one to make the situation as bad as it had gotten, the three of them, despite their _own_ heroism, were berated by the nearby Heroes for their reckless actions.

"What were you three morons thinking?" Kamui woods asked in the tone of a worried older sibling.

"You shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that. I mean, look at what happened to your friend," Deathgoro said as he pointed at Kenji. "Your friend threw out his voice from over-using his Quirk, and _this_ guy," he said pointing to Ryu, the malnourished teenager swatting away the paramedics who wouldn't leave him alone. "He's completely malnourished thanks to you."

 **"SHUT THE FUCK UP! ALL OF YOU!"** Kenji shouted having heard enough of their prattling, the nearby Heroes flinching back in shock as they held their ears. **"DON'T YOU _DARE_ GIVE IZUKU SHIT ABOUT WHAT HE DID! NOT WHEN _YOU_ TWO-BIT CHICKENSHIT WANNABE HERO _POSERS_ DID NOTHING BUT SIT BACK WITH YOUR _THUMBS_ UP YOUR ASSES, BITCHING AND WHINING LIKE A BUNCH OF FREAKIN' _GRADESCHOOLERS_ ABOUT YOUR QUIRKS NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH!" ** he raged, the nearby civilians watching in shocked stupor as the middle schooler absolutely _cowed_ the Pro Heroes, his voice audible even to the back-end of the crowd who couldn't _see_ anything. **"AAAND _YOU_!"** he raged as he pointed a finger at the Pro Hero who had done nothing but sing Bakugou's _praises_ the entire time. **"ARE YOU MENTALLY _RETARDED_?! IF BAKU- _BAAAKA_ HADN'T BEEN FIRING OFF HIS QUIRK LIKE A FOUR-YEAR-OLD HAVING A _TANTRUM_ , THAT FIRE WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN _BEEN_ THERE! SO DON'T YOU _DARE_ SING HIS PRAISES WHEN HE DID NOTHING BUT MAKE THE SITUATION _WORSE_ FOR HIMSELF! _AND_ YOU!"** By this point blood was gushing out of his mouth like a sprinkler, Izuku comparing the sight to "Thin Might" between bouts of wigging out over his friend's health, while All Might himself realized how _blood curdling_ the sight was from the outside. **"AS FOR _YOU_..." ** This time he rounded on Mount Lady, the giant Heroine shrinking back and actually on the verge of _tears_ as the irate teenager rounded on her after ripping all the other Heroes a new one. **"STOP...** debasing yourself like you did this morning," he said as his rage began to evaporate. "You're _better_ than that, you don't need to shake your butt for every horny guy with a camera or a phone to be a popular Hero. Take pride in the work that you do, and your efforts will be rewarded in the end," he said almost sagely, the woman blinking owlishly before slowly nodding her head, a few of the women in the crowd actually _cheering_ in wake of his feminism-centric speech. "C'mon... Ryu..." Kenji said as he grabbed Ryu's left arm and threw it over his shoulder, his free hand going to the waistband of his pants and helping him up. "Let's get you home."

"Home...?" the blue-skinned teen asked, the word completely foreign on his tongue.

"W-Wait up!" Izuku said hitting the emergency exit button to the chewing-out he'd been given minutes ago, happy for an out of the "Izuku is useless" tirade he was getting from all the Pro Heroes.

He'd gotten enough of that at school, thankyouverymuch.

* * *

That evening, as the sun began to set in the distance, Kenji and Izuku walked down the back street toward their homes, one of Kenji's arms over each of their shoulders as they helped the malnourished teen forward.

"Hey Izuku... You've been quiet for a while now. Is everything alright?" Kenji asked. His voice was a bit scratchy after the chewing-out he'd given the so called _Pros_ , but he had just enough strength left in him to speak in a normal tone.

"Oh, um... I'm just thinking how I should've apologized to All Might for all the trouble I caused today," Izuku said morosely. "I didn't have the chance with all those reporters around, so I guess I'll just leave a message on his website, hope he gets it."

"So... How _was_ meeting with All Might?" Kenji asked, wondering how things had gone after his friend had hitched a ride on All Might's left calf.

"It was..."

 ** _"Holy cow! You've deflated!"_**

"...interesting," Izuku replied, thinking back to the first thing he'd blurted out as soon as All Might shrunk right in front of him.

"Huh..." Kenji returned. Izuku wasn't _lying_ when he said that, his heartrate was steady, but there was definitely more going on than he was willing to divulge.

"Hey losers!" Bakugou shouted as he rounded the corner, a PO'd look on his face like always. "I never asked you morons to save me! As if you even _could_! I could've escaped all by myself!"

"What was that, Baku-baka? I couldn't hear you over the sound of that Sludge Villain _face-fucking_ you into next month," Kenji returned bitterly, Izuku bushing at the rather _vulgar_ description of the blond's then-current straits.

"S-Shut it, Crybaby!" Bakugou bit back. "How _dare_ you losers take pity on me! I don't need the likes of you making me look bad, especially _this_ homeless fucker!" he said jabbing a finger at Ryu, still hanging off of Kenji and Izuku's shoulders. "Get in my way again and I'll end _all_ of you!" he shouted before whirling around and storming off, grumbling obscenities under his breath even as he disappeared from sight.

"I know I just met the guy..." Ryu spoke up for the first time since they'd started walking. "But he sounds like a complete _douche_."

"Preaching to the choir on that one," Kenji said before coughing up, a droplet of blood dribbling down his chin.

"C-C'mon Kenji, let's get you back home so we can get some honey for that throat of yours," Izuku said worriedly.

 **"I AM HERE!"** a bombastic voice suddenly proclaimed, its equally bombastic owner stepping out from around the corner in some absurd Silver Era pose.

"HUH?!" Izuku yelped, his hair standing on end. "A-A-A-All Might, what're _you_ doing here! You were surrounded by reporters and-"

 **"Hahahaha!"** the muscular hero boldly laughed. **"Shaking them off is nothing to me! After all, I'm All Mi-** KOFF!"

"AAAGH! WHO THE HELL _IS_ THIS FUCKER!?" Kenji yelped in wake of the Hero's blood-spurting transformation, whereas Izuku and Ryu showed marginally less shock at the sight before them.

"Oh... um... Hello there," All Might greeted nervously, realizing Izuku hadn't been as-alone as he thought he would. "I uh... I can explain," he said taking note of Ryu's reaction, or rather, lack thereof. _'When he was captured by the Sludge Villain... did he see me before I transformed?'_ he wondered.

"Explain _what_!? The fact that you've shriveled up like a sun-dried _tomato_?!"

"That's... certainly an interesting way of putting it..." All Might replied, having failed to plan for the possibility that Izuku wouldn't be alone when he made his grandiose entrance. _'Roll with it,'_ he told himself. No turning back time, after all.

"Kid," All Might begins to explain as he realized that he had to be specific on who he was talking to, "Th-the one with the freckles. I want to thank you and to revise what I said earlier… I also have a proposal."

"Wait, were you the one who made my friend feel like crap earlier?" Kenji asked the greatest hero of all time. "Kind of a dick move on your part **,** All Might."

"Yeah I'm sorry for that, it was kind of a crappy thing for me to do **,** " All Might stated **,** regretting what he had done to Izuku. "If I hadn't heard your story… I'd have been nothing but fake muscles and insecurity." One part of that got the three teens curious as they weren't sure why he said that.

 _'Fake Muscles?'_ all three thought at the same time.

"That… no. It was all my fault that happened **,** " Izuku explained as Kenji and Ryu looked on in curiosity as they looked at Izuku. "I got in the way of your duty and all it did was made the situation even worse than before. I don't have any powers and my friends almost got killed because of my stupid actions."

"Izuku," Kenji said as he gained their attention. "If this situation was replayed, I still would have jumped in to save you and anyone else. I didn't need a reason to help someone, so why did I need one earlier."

"Yeah, and if it wasn't for you guys helping me and such, I might still be afraid to show my face. Both of your kind acts today have given me a new perspective on Heroes and doing the right thing **,** " Ryu explained **,** now thankful for meeting Kenji and Izuku.

"Your friends is right my boy," All Might agreed as he went on to explain why. "Out of all of the people at that scene, civilians and Heroes alike, a timid and Quirkless boy like you was the only one to acted! Not only did it spur me into action, but it also spurred your friends right next to you as well. That is a quality of a true Hero that is in you."

Izuku, Kenji and Ryu were shocked to hear how their actions had helped the greatest hero to push his own limits and remember what heroic actions truly meant.

"There are stories of great heroes in the past," All Might explained, telling the boys a small history lesson. "While they explain how they knew they were great at a young age, most of them all had one thing in common… They all claimed that their bodies moved on their own before even having the chance to think. And that was what happened to all three of you."

The teens all thought about that fact that they all did that earlier today while trying to save Bakugou and one another. But Izuku began to think about his past when he found out he didn't have a Quirk and how his mother apologized to him. Kenji thought about how he was constantly picked on for being useless, being there for Izuku, and trying to help people around his community. Ryu... Ryu remembered his past on the streets: Scavenging for food, trying to survive everyday, and feared for being labeled as a monster his whole life. If it wasn't for Kenji's kind actions and his words, Ryu might not know of what it felt like to have friends or that his future was looking brighter now than before.

"Young men… All three of you can become true Heroes!" All Might announced, the three of them feeling their hearts swell with joy and excitement upon hearing those words. "And that is why I have decided that you young Midoriya, to be worthy of inheriting my powers."

The joyful moment was paused when they heard Izuku was going to inherit All Might's power. They looked up at the scrawny hero and looked at him in confusion. No one knew what to say in that moment, except for Ryu as he knew exactly what to say a few moments later.

"What the f-!?"

* * *

 **I hoped you enjoyed this origin chapter. I have heard of many super heroes in my youth and I can honestly say that I have never heard of a hero who has started out being homeless and then going on to become a super hero. I believe this is a first for anyone.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review on the bottom to show me what you thought of this. No flame reviews allowed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is everyone, the next new chapter of Deku, Sound Demon, and Azulong. I'm so happy to see such good reviews for the first chapter of the story, you guys really enjoy this story so much. I have some news for you all on the bottom for you to enjoy but for now enjoy the story.**

* * *

"What the f-!?"

"Language!" Thin Might states as he scolds Ryu for his foul mouth. He laughed a bit when he saw the looks on all three of their faces. "Sorry, it's just your faces look priceless right now. Don't worry, I won't force my powers on you. Listen well young Midoriya…" Thin Might paused for dramatic effects, "Do you want to accept my awesome power or not?" He asked as blood spurt out of his mouth again.

"Power, what is your power, what are you even talking about?" Izuku curiously asks.

"Good question my boy **,** " Thin Might states as he prepares to explain his powers to them. "This concerns the true power of my Quirk. Everyone from journalists to online speculators have been guessing what my true powers were."

"So it isn't just Bulking Up?" Ryu asked as he believed that was what it was.

"That was one of the guesses, another is some kind of Power Boost or Invulnerability. Heck, even in interviews I dodge the question with a joke. But that is just to keep the public in believing that their "Symbol of Peace" is a natural born Hero like everyone else. But my powers are anything _but_ natural. My power was something handed to me like an Olympic Torch from someone else," Thin Might explains to them all as Izuku was trying to wrap his mind around such a thought.

"Someone… gave you this Quirk… really?" Izuku repeats as he couldn't believe this himself. Neither could Ryu or Kenji.

"Indeed it's real, and I can give you my abilities but only if you're ready," Thin Might replies as he lets this information sink into their heads as they try to process this. Ryu and Kenji had a bit of an easier time accepting this, but as for Izuku…

Izuku began to overly think about this as he went on a muttering rant about Quirks and about his favorite Hero's true powers and how they can be inherited so easily. Kenji kind of chuckled at this as he was used to Izuku doing this quite often, even when they are studying together.

"Uh, is this normal for him, Kenji?" Ryu asks as this was his first encounter with _"Mutteriya"_ , as his classmates call him periodically.

"Yeah this happens from time to time. Also, are we really not gonna talk about the fact that All Might just said _'Language'_ to you earlier?" Kenji asked as he looked at All Might in his thin form.

"One, it's a force of habit," Thin Might explained as he was starting to get a bit annoyed by Izuku's overly complicated thinking. "And second, stop nerding out!" Thin Might yelled to snap Izuku out of his ranting.

"You have to change your reality and accept this truth. One facet of my secret ability allows me to willingly transfer my power to another host **,** " Thin Might explained once more as he then went into detail about his Quirk's true nature. "The true name of this power of mine… it's called [One For All]! The first person to wield this power cultivates it, then passes it to another. The next person refines the power and once again passes it onto another, it is this cultivated power that allows me to save those in dire need of a Hero. That is the true nature of it."

"B-but why me? What if I can't live up to the expectations?" Izuku asked, worried about failing and making things worse for everyone.

"Before meeting you, I was on the lookout for a successor to this power **,** " Thin Might told them as they had no idea the #1 hero was even looking for one. "But back during that Sludge Villain rampage, when everyone else stood idly by, you Midoriya, was brave and heroic enough to charge into the situation, spurring the righteous actions to allow your friends to make the same choice you made as well. You may be just a Quirkless fanboy, Midoriya, but you acted like a true Hero would in that moment."

Izuku began to tear up at that moment as his favorite Hero of all time praised him and offered him to become the next inheritor of his power. Ryu didn't know what to say in light of this explanation, while Kenji felt pride in his friend for having such a great offer to become the Hero Izuku always dreamed about becoming.

"But you must remember, it all depends on your choice right now Midoriya, so what do you say?" Thin Might asked, waiting for a response from Izuku.

 _'He's told us so much, All Might's divulged his greatest secret to the three of us. Do I even have a reason_ not _to accept this?'_ Izuku thought as he looked at his oldest friend and his newest friend. He saw Kenji look at him with pride and excitement seeing his oldest friend so close to beginning his path to being a Hero as Ryu smiled at Izuku. He may be new to this friend thing, but he was glad to see this amazing moment right before his eyes. _'No, like Kenji says, I don't need a reason to help people. So why should I start now?'_

"I accept!" Izuku said as he looked at All Might with determination.

"A quick answer, I expected none the less from you my boy." Thin Might states as he looks on in pride. "Meet me in Dagoba beach in two days at 6 in the morning to begin your training. It won't be easy, but nothing gained in life ever was. You can even bring your two friends here as well; I think I can come up with something special for them."

"Alright, I'll be there… sensei." Izuku declares as he calls All Might, sensei. Joy and pride filled the Pro Hero's heart when he was called that just now.

"Me too," Kenji states as Ryu nodded yes. "Well, it's getting late and my parents are probably worried sick about me. So I'm gonna take Ryu home with me to rest up and figure out where to go from there."

"Home… it sounds very nice to go to somewhere to call home **,** " Ryu responds as he never was able to call any one place home, until now that is.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school Izuku." Kenji said as he walked past Izuku and All Might, still carrying Ryu by his side as they headed home. "And for gosh sakes Izuku, you better watch your language **,** " Kenji said with a smile on his face.

As the duo were out of sight, All Might turns to Izuku and ask him, "He's never gonna let me live that down, is he?"

"Probably not."

* * *

 ***With Ryu and Kenji***

"Hey Kenji," Ryu asks as he looked to his first true friend. "How much further is it to your home?" This was an all-new experience for him, going to a nice, warm and loving environment to rest without worry in.

"About another block until we get to my place," Kenji replies as his mind wondered to a certain fact that was bugging him for a short while. "Hey Ryu, how come you didn't freak out when we saw All Might turn into a skeleton man with a skin colored suit on earlier?"

"Well, when that Sludge Villain took me hostage and I was thrashing about trying to escape, part of my face was free and I saw him go from skinny to huge in a second," Ryu explained to him like it was a normal daily thing to witness. "It's kind of normal to see when you've lived all alone on the streets, trying to survive to live and see the next day, and that wasn't the oddest thing I have seen."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. What did you mean by _odd_?" Kenji wondered as he can't even imagine what kind of things Ryu had witnessed in his life.

"Well, I've seen some weird shit in my time on the streets, like this one odd Hero woman dressed like some kind of sex demon and even watching some people inject something into themselves and become monsters," Ryu said to him as Kenji's eyes widen in shock.

"Are you telling me that you saw the vigilante Pop Step and witnessed the Trigger epidemic first hand?!" Kenji was shocked how Ryu had witnessed something that had affected many unsuspecting people due to being injected by force. "Man, that drug forced _so_ many unwilling people to become villains by reducing their inhibition to a sense of reason."

"Yeah, she was dressed really skimpy, and she was weird. I just wished that Trigger thing never got me back then," Ryu explained as that shocked Kenji.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear about that," Kenji sympathized with Ryu.

"Yeah, some jerk injected me with the stuff, just to see what would happen, and the next thing I know Heroes are attacking me and were calling me a monster and a freak. I guess that was one of the moments where I was afraid of Heroes," Ryu explained as he felt bad about what has happened to him in his past and never wanted to go through again.

"Hey, don't worry about that happening to you anymore. Things are gonna be better for you now and I'll be there to help you out along the way," Kenji stated as Ryu looked at him and smiled for a bit.

"Yeah, thank you Kenji. You're the best friend someone like me could ever ask for," Ryu said to him.

"No problem. And would you look at that, we made it to my house." Kenji said as Ryu looked up and was amazed by what he was looking at. It was a Western-Style Japanese, pale yellow, two story house with red roof tiles and two gates in the front, one for the main entrance and one for the family car and bikes to be parked. There were brown shutters by the windows and two flat surface areas accessible from the second floor, one for hanging laundry, and the other more because of design purposes. In Kenji's eyes it was a normal house like others, but in Ryu's eyes it appeared to be a mansion fit for royalty.

"Kenji, do you live in this… _mansion_?" Ryu asks as he gazed at this huge home and starts to form tears of joy in his eyes.

"Well it's not really a mansion, but it's definitely a fine place to call home," Kenji tells him as they went to the front door. Kenji took his shoes off as he slipped on some slippers for him to wear and walk around in the house with. Realizing Ryu is still barefoot, so he placed him on the floor gently as he pulled a pair of slippers out of a cupboard for Ryu to wear as he was about the same shoe size as him.

As they walked into the house Ryu looked at how clean the home was and how nice the interior of the home felt to him. He saw some family photos of Kenji when he was younger with what he believed to be Kenji's parents, seeing their happy smiling faces and loving nature made him long for that feeling as well. Ryu was shocked by the layout of the living room that Kenji brought him into, an L-shaped green couch with a beige rug, small coffee table in front of it, a blue chair in the corner and the biggest TV he ever saw in his life.

"Here, let me put you on the couch for now Ryu." Kenji informs him as he helps Ryu onto the couch to rest easily on. As soon as Ryu sat down, he was shocked by how comforting the cushions were as he laid on his side and rolled in place to enjoy the feeling of comfort never felt by him before now. "Comfy I take it?"

"It's the most relaxing thing I have ever sat or rested on in my life," Ryu tells him as he couldn't get over how it felt like laying on a cloud in his mind.

"Ah, Kenji, it's good to see your back home safe," a man walking into the room says aloud. This man was very rugged looking in his facial appearance with part of his black hair close to covering his left eye and thin goatee. But his body language spoke like a kind and peaceful man who would help those in need. This is Kenji's father, Takayuki Matsuda.

"Hey Otou-san, I'd like to introduce my new friend to you, Ryu Soshi. I was hoping he could stay with us for a while until we got things settled for him," Kenji said as he introduced his father to Ryu as politely as he could.

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you Ryu," Takayuki stated as he held his hand out to give a shake to as Ryu flinched out of fear and habit.

"It's okay Ryu, your safe here in this house," Kenji reassuringly told Ryu as he hesitantly reached out to shake the man's hand.

"I-it's nice to meet you sir, I mean Mr. Kenji's _Otou_ -san," Ryu frantically said as he was really nervous in front of the man before him.

"Hehe, it's okay to be a bit nervous Ryu, and call me Takayuki if it makes you feel better," Takayuki smiles as he reassured Ryu that he was okay.

Ryu started to smile as he witnessed how kind Takayuki was to him as it reminded him greatly of how Kenji acted earlier in the day when they had that delicious ramen together. He did start to blush when he saw a woman enter the room as well after hanging up the portable phone on the charger.

This woman looked beautiful in Ryu's eyes as she was shorter than Takayuki was, but her long and elegant brown hair and her flawless face made him think she was an angel he had dreamed about many times before today. "Wow, Kenji is that your sister?" Ryu honestly asked as the woman giggled and Kenji had a small chuckle at his question.

"No Ryu, this is my Okaa-san, Mirei Matsuda. Not my sister," Kenji corrected as Ryu felt really embarrassed for that mistake.

"That's right, and I want to thank you for the kind complement, Ryu," Mirei said as she kindly smiled at him. "Now Kenji, why were you so late today?"

Kenji flinched a bit as he saw his mother look at him with her eyes closed and smiling in a kind fashion, he knew that look before and knew he had to be honest for the most part. "Well, Izuku and I were attacked by a villain, who was holding Ryu as a hostage from an earlier incident, until a Hero came in and saved us all. Ryu was a bit hungry so I treated him to noodles from Wok-san's stand. Then we met up with Izuku again after he had to do something else, we saw the same villain attack again, with a classmate of ours as his hostage, and may have jumped in to try and save him before that same Hero from before saved the day and we went our separate ways back home with me bringing Ryu here."

"Well now, that's an interesting reason for coming home late. Dealing with that Sludge Villain must have been rough on you boys," Mirei said to her son and his friend.

"Yeah, and smelly too," Ryu said as he sniffed his arm, only to reel back in disgust.

"Yeah it sure… hang on, how do you know what kind of Villain it was?" Kenji asked worried about how his mother knew about that.

"It's been on the news for about an hour now." Takayuki stated as he turned the TV on as it was on a news station with highlight footage of the attack on Tatooin's Shopping District.

"Oh… How much trouble am I in?" Kenji asks as Ryu was a bit worried as well, not sure how to deal with this.

"Well none really, you did a good job in trying to save Bakugou. I even got off the phone with his mother as well, she thanks you for saving her little firecracker," Mirei replied as she was very grateful for raising such a brave and courageous son. "But you both stink and need to take a bath this instant."

"Okay," Kenji and Ryu said in unison as Ryu got off the couch to head outside.

"Ryu, where are you going?" Kenji asks as he wasn't sure what Ryu was planning on.

"Huh?" Ryu looks back to the family with a confused look upon his face. "I'm going to find a hose to wash off with, why?"

"You don't need to use our hose to wash off, Ryu. I know you were homeless for a long time, so I'll let you take the first bath," Kenji tells him and also informing his parents on Ryu's living conditions at the same time.

"Homeless?" Takayuki and Mirei said at the same time as Ryu looked at them as he nodded solemnly.

"Well then allow me to properly wash you," Mirei states as she rolled up her sleeves and held onto Ryu's shoulders. Ryu was confused by what she was going to do him as she led him down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Wait, what's going on?" Ryu asks, concerned about his wellbeing.

"Oh don't worry, I've washed Kenji for a long time so you have nothing to hide from me," Mirei said as she and Ryu entered the bathroom for her to properly clean him.

About half an hour later, Mirei exited the bathroom with a much cleaner looking Ryu as his skin looked a much brighter shade of blue than it was before, with no grime or dirt on him whatsoever, and his brown hair looking much cleaner and neater than ever before. Ryu, wearing an extra pair of sweatpants Kenji had before and a plain white shirt, walked back into the living room where Kenji and his father sat as he went to the couch with a shocked look on his face.

"So… How did you enjoy your first real bath Ryu?" Kenji asks as he wondered why Ryu looked so shocked.

"It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before," Ryu stated as he looked forward. "I have never felt this clean before, and for a while, I thought your Okaa-san was going to scrub my scales off of my body completely."

Kenji couldn't help but chuckle at Ryu's experience. "Well, Okaa-san really had to make sure you're squeaky clean, and properly dressed too. So are you still hungry or do you want to get some sleep?"

Before Ryu could even answer, his stomach beat him to the punch as it growled for everyone in the room to hear. "Well from that loud roar, I think you need some food in you. Come now, let's set an extra place for you at the table and give you something to enjoy," Takayuki said as everyone went off to enjoy their meal, after Mirei told her son to wash up and change his clothes to something less stinky.

About fifteen minutes later, Kenji came into the dining room wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt with musical notes on it as everyone sat down to the meal that was prepared for them to eat and enjoy. Ryu stares at the spread, it was a hamburger steak with sauce on top of the meat and an egg sunny-side up on top, with some veggies on the side and a bowl of rice next to the plate. The smell and the glistening of the food made Ryu's eyes water with joy as he picked up his chopsticks and began enjoying the meal in front of him.

All it took was just one bite for him to become hooked on the delicious food before him.

"Wow, looks like someone really enjoys my cooking," Mirei looked at Ryu as she smiled at how he savored every piece of food in his mouth and enjoy each bite he took. "So Ryu, I'm sorry to ask this but have you been eating properly or at all for that matter?" she asked as she was worried due to his malnourished state and his weak looking body.

He paused for a second as the room was silent from worry. Kenji would have answered for him but Ryu beat him to the punch, "I-I barely had anything to eat really," Ryu said as the Matsuda family looked sad at what he just told them. "I had to scrounge around for food just to survive each day. Heck I had to resort to stealing from a farmer's market a few times, drink from normal fountains at some places, and barely had any place to call a permanent home. I was so afraid of what people would think and what they did to me in the past that I was always alone. Before Kenji came along and helped me out, I…" Ryu paused for a second as he began to cry a bit. "I wasn't sure how much longer I could live."

The dam broke on that last sentence as Ryu cried onto his lap as Mirei hugged him gently and let him cry on her shoulders, just like what Kenji did earlier for him.

"Hey, it's okay now, Ryu," Takayuki told him as he placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "We'll make sure you never have to go back to living like that ever again. Tomorrow, we'll try to help you out in any way we can, even take you to a clinic to have a doctor look you over and check on your health."

At the mention of him going to see a doctor, Ryu jumped back in terror as he had his back to the wall and a look of fear plastered on his face. "NO! NO DOCTORS! THEY'RE EVIL, THEY'LL JUST EXPERIMENT AND DO SO MANY HORRIFIC THINGS TO ME!" Ryu shouted in fear as he crouched down and began rocking himself back and forth to calm himself as he hyperventilated.

Kenji panicked and got out of his seat to try and comfort him, "Ryu, it'll be fine. It's gonna be okay, we'll be in the room to make you feel better and make sure nothing bad happens to you, okay?" Kenji informed him as he tried to calm his new friend down as he hugged him to try and calm him down.

The hug began to work as Ryu no longer shook in fear and began to calm down a tad. "O-O-okay," Ryu said as he was starting to become tired from that panic episodes as he yawned.

"Come on now, let's put you in your bed to sleep in for the night." Kenji said as he helped Ryu up and brought him upstairs, as his parents began to clear the table and save some leftovers for another time. As Kenji brought Ryu to the second floor, he opened the door to show Ryu the room he will be staying in for his time at their house. It was a normal guest room with a full size bed next to the window, a nightstand next to it, a chest of drawers on the other side of the room and a green rug on the floor to tie up the room. There wasn't much in the room as it was, but it was plenty for Ryu at the moment. Kenji helped Ryu to the bed and tucked him in as Ryu rested his head on the pillows. "Don't worry a thing Ryu, everything will be better from now on," Kenji said as he looked to see Ryu already asleep and looking much more peaceful than before. Kenji left the room as he went back downstairs to have a talk with his parents about Ryu's predicament. "I'm so sorry about that, I didn't know about his fear of doctors. Although, that does explain why he was trying to shoo away some of those doctors earlier this afternoon."

"It's okay Kenji, you had no idea. But now I'm worried about him even more," Mirei said as well.

"Yeah, we don't know what horrors he's been through before. Right now, we need to make sure he has a good place to call home and feel safe in," Takayuki said as well as he too had a knot in his heart after seeing the outburst earlier.

"I know, but seeing as how he was on the news, as well as the civilians and Heroes that saw him and his Quirks, we have to make sure he goes to a proper home", Kenji stated, thinking back to all the custody battles involving children with powerful Quirks and how things could get _really_ ugly _really_ fast

"Yes. As Defense Attorneys, we already thought of that before it was even said," Takayuki stated before he paused in what his son just said. "Hold on now, did you say _Quirks_? As in more than one?" he asked his son as he wasn't sure if he heard right.

"Yeah, I saw him shoot some beams of light out of his hands at the Sludge man, as well as grow some armor from his body too," Kenji told them as there have been records of people holding two powers, but most of the time those powers were _complimentary_ with each other, rather than something opposite like in Ryu's case.

"Well then, that just means we have to make extra sure he goes to an excellent place to call home then. We can ask him about his Quirks later when he feels better. But only if he wants to talk about it," Mirei stated as she had a determined look on her face. Her family knew that look easily as they knew she meant business and was very serious whenever that face of her shows up.

"Yeah," Kenji said as they talked over what to do to help Ryu out in his future, now that it looked much brighter now, until it was time for them to go to bed as well.

* * *

 ***The next morning***

Ryu was stirring awake as the sun's rays started to shine one him. For whatever reason it made him feel much better, more energetic, and much stronger as the sun shined right onto him. As he woke up, he panicked for a few seconds being in an unfamiliar place, until the memories of the other day flooded his mind and he calmed himself down.

As he got out of bed, a wonderful aroma got his attention as he left the room to follow the scent downstairs to see the Matsuda family about to enjoy some breakfast as they saw him enter the room. "Oh, good morning Ryu, did you sleep well last night?" Takayuki asked him as he had some egg.

"Y-yeah, actually I think that was the best sleep I ever had on a clean bed," Ryu replied as he remembered some of the dirty beds he had tried to rest on in the past.

"Well that's good to hear, come enjoy some of this delicious breakfast I prepared," Mirei kindly said as she placed a plate on the counter for him to sit and enjoy.

Ryu sat down as he saw the scrambled eggs, with steam just coming off of them, and bacon as he could still hear them sizzle a bit. He looked around for some chopsticks to eat with but was confused at how there wasn't any out. "Ryu," Takayuki said as he placed a clean fork next to the homeless teen, "You can use a fork for the eggs and the bacon you can eat with your hands."

Ryu was surprised, he always assumed to eat everything with chopsticks, but he went on to enjoy his meal as he savored every bite he took from the food. As he was eating his meal, the doorbell rang as Takayuki went to answer the door. Ryu was kind of curious and worried about who it was at the door until he saw Izuku walk into the room. Seeing him calmed Ryu down greatly after seeing his other new friend.

"Morning Mrs. Matsuda. Hey Ryu, I'm glad to see you're looking better now," Izuku said as he looked at Ryu with joy and excitement seeing him beginning to adjust better to a loving environment.

"I-Izuku, why are you here?" Ryu generously asked with some food in his mouth, he wasn't expecting to see him so soon.

"Ryu, please don't talk with your mouth full," Mirei scolding him kindly as any mother would. Izuku chuckled a bit at seeing Ryu blush as his face turned purple due to his blue skin.

"It's okay, I walk with Kenji to school every day. Speaking of which, he should be ready right about… now," Izuku said as he looked at his watch and heard Kenji rush into the kitchen to grab a piece of toast for the road.

"Crap, I almost over slept again," Kenji shouted as he rushed out the room, but not before saying good morning and goodbye to his parents and Ryu before rushing to the door.

"This always happens on a Friday, just to inform you Ryu," Izuku tells him as he heads to the door as well.

"Have a nice day at school boys," Takayuki said to them as they went out the door.

"Thank you so much for the food Mr. and Mrs. Matsuda," Ryu told them as he finished his plate. The parents smiled at how kind he was to them but that smile didn't last as they knew what was about to happen next.

"Ryu," Mirei said as Ryu looked concerned by the tone in her voice, worrying about what was about to happen next. "I know you have a fear of doctors, but we need to have you checked to make sure you aren't sick with some disease that you didn't know about or of any injuries you may have. We'll take you to a friend of ours that we've known for years and will treat you properly, okay?"

At first Ryu froze and was about to go into another panic attack, but seeing Mirei's concerned face calmed him down and made him feel better. "O-Okay, please make sure he doesn't do anything too scary to me," Ryu pleaded as he was still afraid of doctors but wanted to make sure he could count on them to save him when needed.

"Of course we will Ryu, nothing bad will happen to you when you're staying with us," Takayuki said with a hand on his shoulder to appease the worried teen.

* * *

 ***Later at school***

Izuku and Kenji were about to enjoy their lunch in class as they had noticed something, all day that their classmates and underclassmen were looking at them and whispering something in secret. "You do know they're talking about the Villain incident from yesterday, right Izuku?" Kenji informed him as Izuku nodded in response, he was never in the spot light before so this was kind of nerve wracking for him to come to terms with.

"Yeah, and Kaa-chan keeps glaring daggers at us," Izuku told him as they both saw Bakugou glare intensely at the two of them before going back to his meal. They were surprised by the fact that he didn't yell at them or threaten them in anyway, it was completely out of character for him.

"Be glad that isn't his Quirk then," Kenji jokingly said as he got Izuku to smile a bit more as he saw some students looking at their phones. "Huh, I wonder what they're looking at?"

Izuku wasn't sure either as he got a notification on his phone as well. When he saw what it was, Izuku paled and began to panic at what he was seeing. "K-K-K-K-Kenji! You're _trending_!" Izuku told him as he handed him his phone.

"What?!" Kenji was too shocked for words as he looked at the video that was trending. It was a video of him yelling at the Heroes and Bakugou immediately after the Sludge Villain incident. "Holy shit I _am_? Man they got my good side right there... Wait, this is number 2, what's number 1?"

"Yeah, trending at number one was the whole Sludge Villain incident, including Ryu's actions as well," Izuku told him as they saw the video, and panic began to form in them.

"Oh man, Ryu isn't going to like this," Kenji said as he looked to Izuku as he saw the worried look in his face as well. "If people saw this and had bad intentions for him, this could be very bad for Ryu. I mean, you've seen what happens when people fight for custody of a person with a powerful Quirk." Izuku didn't need to be reminded as he has seen that on the news and heard from Kenji's parents on the subject as well.

"Big time, and given what you told me about his reaction to doctors last night, it has me even more worried about him." After putting Ryu to bed last night and finishing his homework, Kenji called Izuku and told him about what happened and a bit of his past he was told about. After that, they talked about what they needed to do to help him.

"I'm really worried, but we have to help him gain a better life and future as well," Kenji repeated as he had to make sure Ryu was given the best he could ever ask for and deserved.

"Of course, perhaps _you know who_ can help with that as well tomorrow morning?" Izuku whispered as he didn't want to accidentally let everyone know about their planned meeting with All Might tomorrow.

"Perhaps, but we'll worry about that later. Hey, maybe we can help Ryu later today and help him out in his education skills or something?" Kenji pondered as that sounded like a good plan.

"Yeah, he may've been homeless, but if we help him in gaining his education and such, this can help him out greatly down the road," Izuku agreed as he knew a good plan when he heard one.

"Right, we don't need a reason to help him out, so we can totally do this to help. With your notes and our combined school time, it should be easy for Ryu to get caught up," Kenji replied as they went on to figure out what to begin with until lunch was over and class was about to begin.

* * *

 ***Back at the Matsuda homestead***

After bringing Ryu to the doctor's, and being in the room with him during his check-up, Ryu was sitting in the sun as he watched some commercials play. The tests revealed that despite his undernourishment and some small scars on his body, he was okay medically speaking, but was now prescribed a diet to help him grow some muscles and fat to make sure he was healthy. The tests did show that apparently that Ryu's beam Quirk was referred to as [Ultraviolet Manipulation], this allows Ryu to absorb and store Ultraviolet rays from the sun and allow him to use them how he seems fit, sometimes the energy he absorbs can help make him feel more energetic and such. The doctor wasn't sure about the armor he formed, but he did assume that the reptilian like complexion and horn was due to the [Ultraviolet Manipulation] Quirk. He just marked the armor off as a secondary Quirk mutation under the Damon-Hall Syndrome.

Damon-Hall Syndrome of course was the manifestation of a _secondary_ Quirk within an individual who _already_ possessed a Quirk. In some cases, the "secondary mutation" was similar to that of the initial one; someone with [Bone Manipulation] for example could potentially develop [Bone Regeneration], which would allow them to completely _separate_ certain bones from their body while completely replacing that which was took out. In others, the secondary mutation could be completely _different_ from the subject's original Quirk; for example, someone with [Telekinesis] could _later_ manifest something like [Diamond Body], even when neither parent possessed that Quirk.

This on top of Latent Quirk Syndrome, where a Quirk manifested _later_ than the age of four, showed that there was still a great deal about Quirks that people didn't understand. While the scientific community had been able to coin terms like "Plus Alpha" and "Quirk Factor", as well as _categorize_ all the types of Quirks, the greatest mysteries about Quirks were still left unanswered. Why do most Quirks manifest at the age of four? Why is so much of the population saturated with Quirk-users? Why do _most_ people get Quirks but not everyone? Why do some manifest Quirks _late_?

For as many of the questions like these that _were_ answered, as Quirks continued to proliferate within the global population and combine or mutate, just as many new questions arose, some without answers, there were still _unanswered_ ones left to be answered.

"Man, this guy on TV sure likes to scream a lot." Ryu said as he watched an _'As Seen on TV'_ commercial for a product with spokesperson, Willy Haze. He changed the channel to see what else was on, Ryu never knew about all these different kinds of channels, he only saw TV's in store windows so this was another new experience for him. He did stop on one station as he saw an old anime that seemed to catch his eye, it was one that involved flying people, fighting each other with quick strikes, and even something similar to his [Ultraviolet Manipulation] Quirk… shooting beams out of their hands at each other.

"Whoa, these anime guys look like they have my powers, but it seems… different as well," Ryu stated as he stood up and tried to imitate some of the poses and moves he watched them do on the show. Some of them involved performing one handed blasts, using both hands, and at one point just the fingers only.

As he imitated the poses, he failed to realize that Mirei and Takayuki were watching him copy the movements. They both had a smile on their faces when looking at Ryu doing that, it reminded them so much of watching Kenji doing the same thing when he was a little kid, sometimes doing that whenever Izuku was over as well.

As Ryu did one more pose, he noticed Mirei and Takayuki looking at him with smiling faces. It freaked him out and accidentally made Ryu shoot a blast of energy at a wall, making a dent in the wall and causing him to panic. "Oh crap baskets, I'm so sorry for damaging your home, please forgive me I'm sorry," Ryu kept repeating as he bowed in apology for doing such damage, after they allowed him to stay in their home and gave them such nice living conditions, he was afraid of how they might react.

"Ryu, it's okay. We know you didn't mean to do this. Besides, we can fix this easily," Mirei explains to him as Takayuki went to get some plaster to place on the dent that Ryu put in the wall. "We didn't want to distract you from what you were doing Ryu, it just reminded us of seeing our son doing the same thing as you did."

"R-really?" Ryu asked as he saw Mirei nod her head yes. "I'm sorry for freaking out like that and damaging your home, it's just… seeing those guys on TV doing something that reminded me of what I did, it made me want to give it a try for myself."

"There's nothing wrong to do that you know; many kids have done it before. But given your past, I think you were due for some childish antics for quite a while," Mirei explained as she ruffled his hair a bit as Takayuki finished plastering the wall.

"All done now," Takayuki said as he looked at the smooth wall, despite some need for repainting. "By the way Ryu, that was a very old TV show from before Quirks started popping up all over the world. It's called _Dragon Ball Z_ , so I think the movements of those fighters on the show might help train you with your powers."

"Really, okay then." Ryu said with a smile on his face before the doorbell went off, causing him to flinch.

"Don't worry, I'll get that everyone," Takayuki said as he went to the door and saw a literal rat-faced looking man in a gray business suit. "Can I help you?"

"Yes you can my good man," The rat man said as he handed Takayuki a business card. "The name's Argit Ratto, and I would like to meet the blue boy with the golden horn on his head."

"Why?"

"Well, I want to adopt him." Argit tells him as Takayuki didn't like the look on his face, not the rat part but the emotion and the way he spoke. "He seems like a very powerful boy and I want to nurture and raise him to his fullest potential. So what do you say sir, let me adopt him and bring out his greatest talents?"

"Uh huh..." Takayuki hummed as he perked up his ears. His Quirk, [Hearing], might not sound impressive on its OWN for things outside of eavesdropping or watching TV on really-low volumes, but Takayuki had trained himself to recognize the tell-tale signs of lying. In Argit's case, the slight acceleration of his heartbeat, which very few could hide. "So, you're not doing this just to have someone with a powerful Quirk to profit off of and not care about his future and safety are you?" Takayuki asked him as he tested the man's intent for Ryu.

"Of course not, he'll be one of the best Heroes ever known and I want to make sure he gets the best training possible," Argit stated as Takayuki continued to read his heartbeat. _'Heh, this idiot is just gonna hand me the boy no problem, he doesn't realize that I plan on milking this cash cow for all he can give me and then some. Hell, I might even make him rob some banks for me to make me even richer and throw him under the bus just to keep me out of jail.'_

Takayuki might not have a Quirk like [Mind Reading], but he didn't _need_ it to know what was going through the guy's head.

"Honey," Takayuki calls for his wife as he looked over his shoulder to let her hear him better.

"Yes dear?"

"Can you please bring me one of the twins, there's a guy at the door who I think really _wants_ to meet one of them." Takayuki says to his wife as the rat man thought he was gonna gain another person to get rich off of as well.

"Yamato or Nobunaga?" Mirei calls to him.

"Hmm, this looks like something Nobunaga will definitely enjoy." Takayuki says as he thought it over.

"Okay, I'll go get him right now sweetie." Mirei calls out as she goes to get Nobunaga.

"So who's this Nobunaga boy of yours, he must be someone very important to allow me to meet him." Argit said as he was basically close to drooling with anticipation.

"Oh he's _very_ special, would you like to know why he's just so _special_?" Takayuki asks him as he reaches to grab something as his wife came to the doorway.

"Well yes, I would love to kn- HOLY SHIT!" Argit screamed as he was looking down the wrong end of a double barreled, pump action shotgun as he fell on his ass and backed up twenty feet.

"Get the hell off of my property or so help me you'll need to find a Surgeon General to fix what we're gonna do to you! You're never getting your hands on Ryu, leave now or say goodbye to your god damn kneecaps!" Takayuki yelled out as he pumped the weapon, readying it for firing. Argit looked at him as he saw the angry look on the man's face.

"The hell, you're doing all of this just to protect some homeless street rat? The fuck is wrong with you people? I'm gonna sue you for custody of that child and take him by force. After that, I think I'll just rob you of all your money if you don't hand him over to me right this second!" Argit yelled and threatened as his tirade was shut down as the barrels made contact with his face, making him sweat like a pig.

"You're really going to sue two Defense Attorney's for custody of a child that you clearly have no rights to in anyway whatsoever, even after threatening them with legal recourse?" Mirei asked as Argit realized how much trouble he got himself into this time. "If anything, this is a matter of self-defense in which we are protecting that child from you doing harm to him in any way you were planning. Besides, you're still on _our_ property right now, so the law is still in fairness to us as the property owners. If I were you, I would choose your next course action _very_ carefully, sir." Mirei said with a sickly sweet tone in her voice as she had the look of a mother bear about to attack to protect her cubs from harm.

Argit knew there was only one course of action left for him to do in this exact moment… run away like his ass was on fire. As the parents looked to see that the man was far away from them and would not be coming back, they both released a sigh of relief and had a small chuckle about what just transpired.

"Hoo boy, he ran away faster than the last guy who tried to trick us with that insurance scam three months ago." The incident in question Takayuki was talking about was during the winter when one man pretended to hurt himself in their yard by faking a slip and fall to scam them for money. It didn't work out for the man at all after finding out who lived there and how there were witnesses to his fake claim.

"Do you think they'll ever realize that your shotgun is just a normal Beanbag gun, and not a real one?" Mirei asks her husband as he placed his gun down gently and de-cocks the weapon and puts the safety on.

"Nah," Takayuki says as they go back inside as Ryu had seen the entire incident transpire down the hall with a pale look on his face. "Ryu, is everything okay?"

"… remind me to never make you angry, because I don't think I can ever forget that moment for a long time." Ryu tells them as they had a small laugh at the reaction as it was genuine moment of confusion.

"Oh, don't worry Ryu," Mirei said in a calming and soothing voice. "We would never do that to you."

"Really, but what if I do something you don't like me doing?" Ryu asked as he wondered what kind of punishment he may face in the future.

"Hmm, well then, we'd mostly feel disappointed and scold you like any parent would do to a child." Mirei explained as Ryu felt much better after hearing that. The calm moment didn't last long as the phone rang out, Mirei went to the phone to talk. "Hello?"

"Hi yes, my name is Kari Kamiya," The woman on the line said as she spoke with Mirei in a professional manner. "I'm calling to ask you a question of someone you may know about or have met, a blue skinned young man with a gold horn on his head."

"And what pray tell do you want to know about him?" Mirei asked as she was being over protective of Ryu, especially after dealing with the last person not even five minutes ago.

"Oh, so you do know him, well I'm the representative of a Pro Hero who is very curious about the young man after seeing him during the Villain incident yesterday," Kari informed Mirei as the mother was still suspicious about it. "My boss was in the crowd watching the scene unfold and was impressed by the boy's action of jumping in to save someone, even at the cost of his own safety."

"And why pray tell, did your boss not do anything to help defuse the incident from yesterday?" Mirei asked as she wasn't sure why this Hero didn't do anything to help in that Villain attack.

"Well as it would turn out, she was dressed in her civilian business clothes and her Quirk undergoes a transformation where her clothes would rip and make it a little too revealing for her if it wasn't made with the right material. Kinda like the Mount Lady incident about three weeks ago." Kari explained as the incident with Mount Lady was well documented as a _'wardrobe malfunction'_ as she didn't have Giga-mesh style clothing on at the time and some perverts took many pictures of her in that state of ripped outfit.

"Okay, and who exactly is your boss and may I please speak with him?" Mirei asked as she wanted to hear the Hero personally to know this was a legitimate call as sometimes scammers can trick people with fake credentials.

"Oh sure, let me call her so you can speak with her," Kari said as she put the phone down to speak with her boss and inform her to talk to Mirei personally.

"Hello, this is Ryukyu, the number 9 Hero in the country. Is this Mrs… Matsuda I'm speaking with at the moment?" The Hero, Ryukyu, said on the phone as this shocked Mirei as she had heard her voice before in interviews and there was no mistaking it, this was the real deal.

"Yes it is, so what's your interest in the young man we know?" Mirei asks as she wanted to understand the Hero's intent and purpose. While Ryukyu is known as the number 9 ranked Hero, that doesn't mean that she had a pure intention under her Hero persona.

"Well after seeing him in action, his [Armor] form into that of a Dragon like appearance, and discovering the truth behind his living conditions before the incident, I was curious about helping him out in any way I could to make sure he has a good life ahead of him. Given his power, I thought as someone who has something similar in appearance, I might be able to help him reach his potential. I even have a copy of a form to allow him to become a pupil of mine to help him out." Ryukyu explained as Mirei was about to yell at her for rushing Ryu into doing something he didn't want to do. "However…" Mirei was interrupted as Ryukyu wasn't finished yet. "I'm holding off on filling out this form and submitting it. I'm doing this because, he seems to be new in the field of social interactions of any kind. So, I was wondering, if I can visit him to make him feel more comfortable about the idea and with me. The meeting of course, will be under your supervision at either your home or an agreed upon location for him to be more comfortable in. All I'm asking for is a week to get to know him better. If he doesn't want me to train him, well I'll just tear up the form, leave it at that, and respect his wishes. So do you agree with this idea Mrs. Matsuda?"

Mirei thought it over as Ryukyu made some very true and compelling thoughts on the subject and could just tell that she had truly good intentions for Ryu and she knew that this was possibly the best thing for him. "Well, okay then. You can come by my home tomorrow afternoon or Sunday, he'll be here as well as my son and possibly his friend too. So please be gentle with him okay?"

"It's okay, I understand. I have a soft spot for children and I'll try to make sure he's safe and everything." Ryukyu replies as she had a smile on her face in the sincerest way possible.

"Okay then, but I just have one question to ask you. How did you get this phone number and know he was with us at all?" Mirei asked as she was curious as to how this Pro Hero found out their location easily.

"Oh, well that was a little tricky. I saw someone, who I believe to be your son, help the young man walk away from the other Hero's and head somewhere else. So with that I just asked around a bit to see where the _'loudest kid in the neighborhood'_ lived." Ryukyu explained as she told Mirei. "After asking almost everyone and getting no answers, I asked this nice Noodle stand owner and he told me he knew him and his parents personally. He told me your names and handed me a copy of your business card. I tried calling your office, but you were out of the office at the time so I had to look you up and found your home phone number."

"Oh, very well then. We'll see you either tomorrow or Sunday then." Mirei said as she hung up the phone as her husband came into the room and noticed Ryu taking a small nap on the couch.

"Who was that sweetie?" Takayuki asked his loving wife.

"A Pro Hero who wants to meet Ryu and get to know him better. Apparently he made a very good impression on her and she wants to get to know him better." Mirei told him as she looked at Ryu with joy in her heart.

"Good to hear." Takayuki smiled as he kissed his wife on the head as she giggled at his action. The moment didn't last long as Kenji and Izuku arrived at the house looking like they went through a riot of some kind. "What on Earth happened to you two?"

"Long story short," Izuku explains as he tried to catch his breathe. "Apparently the Sludge Villain incident is trending online and we were bombarded by our classmates and under classmen about the incident that wanted to hear more about it."

"Yeah, we had to run for about half an hour to get away from them, even cut through the woods to give them the slip." Kenji adds as he pulls a twig from his hair. "So how's Ryu doing?"

"Oh he's just taking a nap right now and is doing very well Kenji. Although we did have to chase someone away who wanted to abuse Ryu's power for their own personal gain." Takayuki stated as they saw Ryu begin to stir awake from his nap.

"Who did you use, Yamato or Nobunaga?" Kenji asked as this was normal in this house.

"Nobunaga for that person, if the situation was worse, I would've sick your mother on him." Takayuki said as Mirei giggled and nodded her head, implicating she so would.

"Hey Kenji, Izuku. What happened to you guys?" Ryu says as he looks at his friends.

* * *

 ***An hour later***

"Well, now that we got cleaned up a bit and put some food in our bellies, we want to do something special for you Ryu," Kenji tells him after enjoying a snack and such. "Izuku and I, we want to help you out educationally speaking."

"What do you mean?" Ryu asks as he wasn't sure what they meant by that.

"Well, we're referring to your future and what you want to do. You still need a good understanding of education, so we want to help you catch up with the education you were denied all these years." Izuku explains as he places his school notes on the coffee table, dividing them up by criteria.

"But before that I'm curious about something Ryu," Kenji says as he looks at Ryu with curiosity. "Ryu, what do you want to be in the future, career speaking?" Ryu pondered on that thought, but he started to shake and cry a bit from the question that was asked. "Ryu, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, it's just… I realized something," Ryu tells them both as they were worried about his emotional state of mind. "Th-this is the first time I ever wondered about what my future would hold besides surviving to see the next day. I have this new lease on life and I want to make the most of this opportunity."

"Well, do you have an idea or should we focus on General Studies for now?" Kenji asks as he wanted to know what Ryu wants to begin with first.

Ryu began to think about what he wanted to do with his future, but as he tried to think about it, several moments popped into his mind. They were moments of All Might in action, Kenji helping him by giving him a nice warm meal, Izuku's dedication to save his classmate, and his own actions to save Kenji. All of those moments from yesterday kept replaying in his head as he started to realize what his mind was trying to tell him.

"Izuku, Kenji, after thinking it over, I think I know what I want to do with my life." Ryu states as he takes in a deep breath. "Guys... I-I want to be a Hero."

"Whoa, are you serious Ryu?" Izuku asks him as he was starting to feel happy as he had the right notes that may help him in becoming a Professional Hero from his own personal collection of notes.

"Yeah, everything that happened yesterday opened my eyes to what the world can have in store for me. You guys made me realize that my fear of Heroes was all in my head, you made me see what a true Hero can really do. And given my past, I want to make sure no one suffers the same thing I had to go through and help everyone who needs the help I needed for over a decade." Ryu explains as he gripped the pants he wore with both hands as Kenji comforted him.

"It's okay man, we'll help you out in becoming a great Hero, right Izuku?" Kenji said to his friend as he comforted Ryu.

"Your right Kenji, you'll become a great Hero Ryu, and with all the notes I've written down over the years about Hero's and such, you're gonna be one of the greats." Izuku said as he pulled out some of his notebooks with notes on Heroes and everything related to that.

"Thanks guys, you two really are the best friends someone like me could ever ask for, seriously," Ryu tells them as he gives the both a hug. "By the way, how many notebooks do you have on Hero's Izuku?"

"I have twelve notebooks filled out, I'm working on my thirteenth one at the moment with new information being added every time I meet a new Hero or Quirk." Izuku explains as he tells him that with a smile on his face. Ryu was happy until he saw Izuku turn into Mutteriya again and began talking to himself on where to start for Ryu's studying.

"Wow, Thin Might was right, you really need to, what did he say: _'Stop nerding out'_?" Ryu said to them as Kenji began laughing. "What did I say?"

"I-It was the nickname Ryu, I had the same thought but didn't call him that out loud." Kenji says as he laughed at how accurate the nickname was to All Might's skinny form.

* * *

 ***Saturday Morning***

After an afternoon of Ryu learning from their notes at a small pace and helping him understand some of the material and what it meant, mostly dealing with math and science areas and a little bit of Izuku's notes on Hero's and their Quirk's, the three friends had made it to Dagoba Beach parking area as Ryu tried to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"*Yawn* Man, why did All Might have us come here so early in the morning?" Ryu asked as he was still tired.

"I didn't really ask him. I was just so blown away by the fact that All Might asked us to come here for training that I forgot to ask why here. Someone pinch me, I _must_ be dreaming." Izuku stated as he was about to go into his dream world again, that was until Kenji snapped him out of it. Or to be more specific, "OW!" pinched him out of it.

"There you're not dreaming Izuku," Kenji tells him as they reached the sign that told them they were at the right place. "Well, we made it here, and with only 10 minutes left to spare." Kenji states as Ryu walks past both of them to get a look at the beach.

Ryu rarely saw the beach area as they were always crowded and he was uncomfortable with large crowds in the past, but hopefully things will change for the better now. Ryu looked on to see the beach for what may've been the first time in his life… only to be disappointed as he walked back to where his friends stood. "Hey guys, I think we got the wrong address."

"Huh? What do you mean Ryu? This is Dagoba Beach, the spot All Might told us to be," Izuku explained as Ryu looked at him with confusion on his face. Between the sign clearly calling this spot Dagoba Beacch and Ryu's words, this confused the childhood friends on what was going on.

"No, this is the junkyard, not a beach," Ryu tells them both as Kenji walks past him to see what he meant by that statement.

"What are you talking about Ryu? This is definitely the bea- Holy crap; Izuku you have got to see this for yourself." Kenji calls out to his friend as he can't believe what he is seeing with his own eyes.

Izuku went to look at what his friends were talking about and was shocked by what he was looking at as well. A once thriving beach and place for relaxation and sunny day fun, was now just a junkyard with so many broken down appliances, run down cars, robot parts, and scrap metal scattered and piled up on the beach you could barely see any of the sand in places. "Oh man, I know beaches can get a bit dirty but this is ridiculous." Izuku complained as he saw all the junk on the beach.

"So wait, this is an actual beach?" Ryu asked as he thought beaches were much clearer and cleaner than what he saw.

"Yeah some of the locals take advantage of the currents pulling junk on the shore and throw away the trash here when no one's around to bust them for illegal dumping." Thin Might told them as he was behind the three and gave them a big scare, even scaring Ryu awake even more.

"A-All Might," Izuku said in shock as he didn't hear him approach them and how snuck up on them just now.

"Well _now_ I'm awake," Ryu said as he patted his chest to calm his heart.

"Someone should put a damn bell on you or something," Kenji adds as he jumped when Thin Might surprised the three of them.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle all of you. Follow me," Thin Might informs them as they follow him to the beach and going down a clear path to an open area of junk and such.

"So what're we supposed to do here All Might?" Izuku asks as All Might turns back to them in his muscular form.

" **It's very simple really, Young Midoriya here has to clear out a section of the beach in ten months if he wants to receive my powers.** " All Might informs them all.

"Okay, so where are the moving supplies?" Izuku asks as All Might tossed him some rope.

" **That's all you're going to be needing young man. I need you to move all of this by hand, and by yourself. You two can help too, but only outside the area where Midoriya here has to work.** " All Might explains to them.

"Huh, why?" Izuku asks.

" **Because, you're not ready for my power.** " All Might explains to him as he pulls out his phone to snap a few pictures of Izuku and his friends. Izuku freaked out and started to ball his eyes out with tears again.

"Wait, I thought you said he was worthy of gaining your power All Might?" Ryu asked as he seemed confused by what was going on.

"Seriously All Might? Again with the dick move! What's your problem?" Kenji yelled at the Pro Hero for the dick move he pulled on his friend Izuku, again.

"But I thought you said I was worthy?" Izuku cried as he couldn't understand why All Might would say such a thing.

" **I was talking about your scrawny and weak body.** " All Might told them as all three friends had a look of confusion on their faces. **"[One For All] is a lot to handle for one person. You see, I had to train diligently to become worthy of being the eighth user of this power. It holds the combined strength of everyone who has used it before, it's basically a hurricane of physical force. If I gave you this power now, before you were physically capable of using such a Quirk, well imagine you were one of those old school, robot fighting games where you win by knocking the opponent's head off. It's like that, but all your limbs would pop off instead.** "

"Holy crap, so you want me to move this trash like it was an intense workout then?" Izuku ponders as he starts to understand what All Might is trying to help him accomplish. Especially after imagining his limbs actually popping off.

" **That's right, clearing this section of the beach is your first step into becoming a great Hero.** " All Might tells them as it made much more sense.

"Oh, I get it now." Kenji said as he understood what All Might was telling them.

"I think I get it, I'm still new to some things but I think I understand it." Ryu said as well, trying to grasp the situation at hand.

" **Tell me, do you three plan on going to Yuuei Academy?** " All Might asked them as Ryu pondered a bit.

"It's one of the best schools in the country and you went there so I want to go there even more. I want to reach for the moon when it comes to becoming a great Hero." Izuku states as he said that with some confidence in his voice.

"You bet I do All Might, Yuuei is the place for me to hone my talents and become one of the best Heroes in the country. Well second only to my buddy Izuku here." Kenji said as he gave Izuku a thumbs up.

"Well, I never really got a formal education like my two new friends here, but they did say they will help me out with learning all they know. And given how my original view on Heroes and such changed, I want to make a change for the better and become a Hero who helps those who are needy like I was for a long time." Ryu tells them as he was determined as well. "Besides, with their help, I think I can make it into that school."

" **Excellent to hear. But I'm not going to lie to you three,** " All Might began to tell them. " **It isn't easy being a Hero without a Quirk, that's just how it is these days. Yuuei is the hardest Hero course to get into, that means we don't have a lot of time to just waste.** "

"I need to work hard and fast on getting my body ready to gain your Quirk." Izuku realizes and understands how hard this training will become.

" **Indeed, however,** " All Might says to Izuku as he looks at Kenji and Ryu. " **I'm not sure if I can help your friends as much as you, Midoriya. I'm kind of new to teaching people so I'm not sure how much help I can provide them, along with you for the next ten months.** "

Izuku looked downtrodden when he discovered that his friends won't be training alongside him into getting ready for Yuuei's entrance exams. Ryu felt sad for his new friend, but had no clue what exactly to say to the teen as he was still new to social ques and such. Kenji however, looked at his childhood friend and knew exactly what to tell him.

"Izuku listen closely to me..." Kenji began to say to him. "Even when it turned out you were Quirkless, never once did you give up on your dream to become a Hero. Every day you took notes, wrote down strategies, and planned for every contingency. That willingness to persevere in the face of adversity, that drive... _THAT_ is what makes you amazing, Izuku. Not some magical Quirk you'll get from this hammy, bombastic guy here, no offense."

" **None taken.** " All Might interrupted.

"Your HEART is what makes you amazing Izuku, and now all that effort you put in is finally being rewarded. So don't tear up like the crybaby everyone calls ME. You become strong with All Might, and in Ten Months when we meet back up again, let's DOMINATE those entrance exams and go to Yuuei together, all three of us." Kenji told him as he held his hand out in front of them.

"That was the most amazing and beautiful thing anyone has ever said that I've heard. Count me in too." Ryu stated as he placed his hand on Kenji's as they looked at Izuku for a response.

Izuku saw how determined his childhood friend was in joining him at Yuuei, and how Ryu was in wanting to be the best as well and make his life better than it was before. The two of them may have only met Ryu recently, but the bond the three of them made was a strong one, one that felt stronger than brotherhood. "Yeah, to getting into Yuuei."

"Here, here." All three of them said together.

" **Excellent to hear, now I did write out this workout plan for Midoriya, but I was able to make copies for you two as well. I call it my _'Aim to Pass American Dream Plan'_.** " All Might informs them as he hands each person a copy of a ten-month workout plan. It contained a well detailed workout routine down to the minute, a list of what to eat in a dietary plan, as well as even a sleep schedule was included. " **Follow this plan, and not only will the beach be cleaned up in time, but you will be ready for the entrance exams.** "

"Whoa this is a lot to take in here, you even wrote down how much sleep I should get," Izuku said as he looked over his schedule.

" **Yes it is, but it'll all be worth it in the end. Now I almost forgot,** " All Might turns to Kenji and Ryu to ask them something important. " **Remind me again what your Quirks are, I'm kind of drawing a blank here, sorry.** "

"Oh sure, well my Quirk is [Loud Voice], it allows me to increase the volume of my voice to higher frequency's and volumes that no normal person can attain without speakers. But after the Sludge Villain, I think my Quirk is more than just that. I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly, but I want to see what it can do and improve on it even more." Kenji informs him as All Might nodded at the response.

" **Very well then, show me what you can do Kenji.** " All Might asks as Kenji walked towards the ocean's shore and began taking a deep breath.

As Kenji finally reached his lung capacity, he let out a powerful attack just like with the Sludge Villain two days ago. **"VOICE MISSILE!"** Kenji sent a powerful blast of sound energy towards the sea, the water started to part in the beginning and continue for what looked like almost a mile or so.

" **So that's what you did to that villain back then.** " All Might said as he pondered something in his mind. " **You know, I may not know how to help train someone with a Quirk like yours Kenji, but I do know someone who I think can do a much better job at it and help you expand your repertoire. I just have to call him later to see if he's up for the challenge, outside of his normal Hero work and other things. You'll know what I'm talking about once you meet him.** "

"Thank you All Might." Kenji thanked him, as he had a feeling that whoever All Might picks can help him out greatly in the long run.

" **And what about you young Ryu, show me what you got.** " All Might states as Ryu felt a little nervous being in the spotlight and tried to hide himself in his new hoodie he got the other day. Seeing how nervous Ryu was, made Izuku realize how it looked when others saw his nervous actions. It made him want to change that aspect and gain some confidence down the road in training.

"Um well, outside of my [Armor] Quirk, which apparently allows me to form a dragon-like armor on my body, I can also do this…" Ryu explained as he pointed to the ocean like Kenji and gathered Ultraviolet energy in his hands before shooting a constant beam out of his hands when he threw them out in front of him. It wasn't as powerful as Kenji's Voice Missile, but it was powerful in its own right. "When Kenji's parents took me to the _*shudders*_ doctor's office," All Might noticed his reaction to the word doctor, so that would be something to check on later down the road. "He explained how I have this Quirk that's called [Ultraviolet Manipulation] which allows me to absorb ultraviolet energy and use them for attacks and such. He said the reason why I have these two Quirks is something called… a _Demon-Hill_ Syndrome."

" **I think you meant, Damon-Hall Syndrome.** " All Might corrected Ryu as he's heard of the medical term as some Heroes in the past had such a thing happen to them.

"Yeah, that's what the doctor called it," Ryu replied as All Might tried to think of anyone who can help train him.

" **Well, because of your past and apparently your two Quirks, I'm not entirely sure if I know anyone who can help train you off the top of my head.** " All Might informed him as he saw Ryu look down in sadness, until Kenji spoke out on that subject.

"Hey don't worry Ryu, my mom did talk to a Pro Hero on the phone the other day who was interested in your training and development." Kenji told him as he was surprised to hear about this more than anyone else.

"Really, who was it?" he asked as Ryu was curious about this Hero in question.

"I'm not sure, she never mentioned the Hero's name, but we may see that person this afternoon or tomorrow." Kenji tells him.

"I hope this goes well, it was kind of off putting dealing with those nosey neighbors of yours." Ryu said, it freaked him out from all of those eyes on him, looking at him, and wanting to know about his powers more and more. It really freaked him out as he thought they looked at him like some kind of cash cow or freak and not as a person.

"Don't worry I'll make sure that we get you the best help you could've ever asked for." Kenji informs him as All Might was glad to hear this.

" **Perfect then, now let's get this training started.** " All Might said as they nodded their heads as they knew that this was going to become the workout training of their lives.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as we dove a bit into uncharted territories with Kenji's home and a little on Ryu's past and powers. The Damon Hall Syndrome is in fact an actual term that is used in Marvel comics when it comes to Mutants with more than one type of power and such. And I'm admitting this right now, the setting of the time would be set in the late 21st to early 22nd century, this is only so that there is a good amount of time set up when Quirks first started popping up and where we are in the story.**

 **Also, I have commissioned StoneMan85 to do a drawing of Ryu Soshi on his deviantart page. You can see it there if you want to help get a visual image in how to picture him.**

 **I also included some references to other works in the story, if you noticed them and know where they are from then your good,**

 **Anyway, don't forget to leave a review at the bottom.**


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